The Haddock Twins: Race to the Edge
by Skylight369
Summary: A discovery of a new, mysterious object unlocks new adventures and new enemies that no one sees coming
1. Dragon Eye of the Beholder I

**A/N: Finally started with RTTE! (opens a party popper) Once again, thanks so much for your patience. I can't guarantee any updates because of college among other things but I will definitely do my best. As for updating my other story 'Newcomer' the thing with that story is that it's a standalone. It can't really give any spoilers for RTTE or vice versa and it was solely there to provide a backstory for Henry arriving on Berk and a little insight on his character. My plan for Henry is for him to be a lone wolf, so he may not be immediately with the other dragon riders for a while, plus Wildstar still needs to recover from her wounds, so they aren't really going to be a part of the adventure in the beginning. Just have to stay tune for that. As for Marcus' character, I feel like I may have an idea for that but I'm not sure. I'm open to suggestions for him, just as long he's not 'too perfect'. I want him to go through a character development of his own, just like Henry will. Does that make sense? I feel like it does. Anyways, Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own anything from How to train your dragon.**

 **Chapter 1: Dragon Eye of the Beholder Part I**

Three years have passed since Berk defeated the Berserkers and in those three years, the Berserkers, including their chief Dagur the Deranged, were still kept in prison on Outcast Island, with no chances of being released anytime soon.

"Meal time, maggots!" An Outcast guard announced passing around some grub to the prisoners.

One of the prisoners, who wasn't a Berserker and who was in the cell next to Dagur, noticed the food the Berserker chief was given. "But that's not bread! Why does _he_ always get special treatment? Oh Mr. Big-shot. Mr. Berserker Chief." He complained.

Dagur calmly got up, went to his side of the bars and held his food up in offering to the other prisoner. "Oh hey you want some? Come here, I'll give you some." Hesitantly, the other prisoner walked close to his bars and reached out to grab the food, allowing Dagur to grab his arm and pull it through the bars. "I've been meaning to tell you something for the last three years; Your. Voice. Is. Really. Annoying." Dagur gritted out, slamming the other man against the bars with each sentence. He then shoves him away and takes out the napkin that came with his food. He unfolds the napkin, revealing a key hidden in it and with it, he opens his cell door. He then flexes his shoulder. "Gosh that feels good."

Dagur then starts attacking the nearby Outcasts guards. "He's escaped! Dagur's got out! Sound the al-" One of the guards yelled before he was knocked out by the deranged teen himself. The Berserker chief looked up and saw more guards charging at him.

"Oh goodie! A challenge." Dagur smirked before giving out a battle cry and charging at the guards. The guards fought with no mercy, but Dagur was still able to surpass them as the other Berserker cheered at their chief from behind bars.

Finally Dagur approached the last Outcast still conscious.

"No. No, Dagur don't! I'm the one that gave you the key." The guard reasoned.

"Which makes you a traitor." Dagur stated before knocking the guard out. "I hate traitors." He then opens the doors of the prison, getting a good view of the sun for the first time in three years. "It's a new day, Hiccup and Hicca. Hope you're both well rested."

On a very familiar looking island there was a Night Fury soaring through the skies, enjoying the very familiar rush of the wind along with his human companion. They were Toothless and Hiccup Haddock.

"Okay, Bud. Let's try the new move." Hiccup said turning the stirrup. Toothless dipped down, and then flew up. "Woohoo! Yeah, baby! That's it, Toothless. Push it, you've got it! Climb higher!" Hiccup cheered as Toothless flew higher and higher. He was too busy enjoying the rush, that he failed to noticed his harness getting unhooked from the saddle until he started slipping out. "What the... oh no, not again!" He exclaimed as he fell off. "Uh hey, Toothless!" Toothless noticed his human falling, so he dove down and flew parallel to Hiccup.

"Hey." Hiccup greeted his dragon calmly, as if they weren't free-falling. "So, just plummet, or, uh any ideas?"

' _No I want us both to drown.'_ Toothless snorted, not that Hiccup understood that.

Hiccup then flipped over and reached out for the saddle. Toothless moved closer, allowing his human to take hold and pull himself back to the saddle. The human then linked his prosthetic back to the stirrup and flew upwards before they could reach the water.

"I seriously have to get my own pair of wings." Hiccup mused.

Toothless grumbled at that, knowing _exactly_ what his rider was going to do.

"Oh, quiet, you. Don't even start." Hiccup hushed.

The duo then flew back to Berk.

 _ **This is Berk**_

Toothless soars over village as villagers wave at the duo from below

 _ **This is Berk, too**_

Toothless then flies over dragon stable, which is currently under construction

 _ **And so is this!**_

They then passed a dragon feeding station, which was currently occupied.

 _ **And this also.**_

Toothless then glides over windmills

 _ **Yeah, it's been three whole years since the war with the Berserkers. And Berk has changed a lot. But then again, so have we.**_

 _ **Raeda opened her own art shop 'Rae's Gallery' and business has been booming ever since.**_

In the building right next door to the forge, Rae walks to the window where vikings are gathered around. "Next customer." She announced.

"That's me! That's me!" One said, pushing through the crowd, holding out his ticket.

 _ **Snotlout works at the armoury now. Gobber gave him the title of "official weapons tester."**_

Snotlout tests a catapult by using it to launch himself. "It works!" Snotlout cheered as he flew in the air.

 _ **The Thorston twins, to absolutely no one's surprise, have decided to dedicate their lives to Loki.**_

Said blonde twins quickly pushed a cart of sharp weapons right at the spot where Snotlout was going to land

The Jorgenson boy immediately noticed this. "Uh, Hookfang! Hookfang!" Luckily for Snotlout, his dragon was able to get to just in time.

 _ **The God of Pranks. Lucky us.**_

"You just have to cut it that close, don't you? Hookfang! Ugh!" Snotlout complained before addressing the twins. "There will be repercussions for this! Repercussions!"

The Thorston twins just laughed and hi-fived each other. "Yes!"

Raeda watched the entire thing and just rolled her eyes and shook her head before getting back to work.

 _ **And then there's Fishlegs, who has really found his calling, teaching the children of Berk the history of dragons.**_

Fishlegs and Meatlug were walking around Berk with a group of kids who were sitting on Meatlug.

"And if you look closely at the walls of the Great Hall, you'll still see puncture marks where the Speed Stingers attacked." Fishlegs explained as they walked to the Great Hall. "Interesting fact about these dragons-" He then paused in his explanation as Stoick walked out of the Great Hall. "Oh! Oh, look, kids! We're in luck. Here come two of Berk's most famous heroes."

That caught Stoick's attention. "Ho ho! Heroes? I've got some Chiefing to do, but I guess I could spare a moment-"

"Hiccup and the amazing Toothless!" Fishlegs announced as the male Night Fury soared over them. The kids cheered at that.

"...eh, to introduce my son and his Night Fury!" Stoick laughed awkwardly. "Hooray."

 _ **And Hicca has also gone to her calling. She working as Gothi's apprentice, studying for her medical exam which she has to give in two years time. I rarely see her these days. Something which I never thought I'd say.**_

In Gothi's hut, Hicca was revising the all the medicinal herbs with her mentor as Toothless flew above the hut.

Toothless then flies them over sea, where Stormfly and Astrid join them.

"Hey, there you are." Hiccup greeted the two girls

"Hiccup, I've been chasing you since the armory." Astrid said.

"Well, I thought we'd try out the far North today." Hiccup said, not letting Astrid explain further. He was really excited to get started on searching for new dragons. This was definitely important to Hiccup. He wasn't ready to settle down like the others have. The Haddock boy was convinced that there is so much more out there beyond the Archipelago that's just waiting to be explored. But it does feel very different without the others with him, especially without his twin. At least he still has Astrid and Hiccup definitely does not mind that at all.

"Uh, can we talk about something first?" Astrid asked, hoping he would say yes.

"Yeah, sure, if you can catch me." Hiccup challenged, before Toothless sped off. Sighing Astrid got Stormfly to chase after the two boys.

As soon as they got a good distance from Berk, Hiccup started surveying the area through his spy-glass.

"I'm just going to say it, I have a really good feeling about today, Astrid." He said to Astrid.

"You say that every time we go searching for new dragons." Astrid pointed out. "Hiccup, can we have a second? I wanted to talk to you about-" She then got interrupted.

"Look, look, look, look! Did you see that? There's definitely some movement up ahead." Hiccup said excitedly. "Long neck... Large head... Behind that rock formation."

"Yeah, anyway, I wanted to tell you." Astrid said, trying to tell him the news. She didn't get a chance to however, because Toothless suddenly sped off. The shieldmaiden just rolled her eyes as Stormfly flew after them once again.

"This is it, Toothless! A new species of dragon, bud!" Hiccup said excitedly as they got closer. They went around the rock formation only to stop when it turns out that what they saw wasn't exactly a new dragon.

"Loki'd!" Ruffnut and Tuffnut shouted at Hiccup, hi-fiving each other.

"You totally thought "Barch" was was a new dragon!" Tuffnut taunted.

"Oh, come on! Did not!" Hiccup retorted defensively. "Let's go, bud."

"Wow, who yakked in his mutton?" Tuffnut asked his twin, as they watched the Haddock boy fly off with his dragon followed by the Hofferson girl and her dragon.

Dismayed by the stunt the Thorston twins pulled, Hiccup told Toothless to land on a sea-stack to calm down.

They were soon joined by Astrid and Stormfly. "Hiccup, those guys are muttonheads." Astrid reassured, referring to Ruffnut and Tuffnut. "But you have to admit, we've visited every island, every sea stack and every rock in the archipelago. And we haven't spotted a new dragon in a long time."

"This can't be all there is! There has to be something more out there!" Hiccup argued.

"What if there isn't, Hiccup? What if we're done? What if the search is over?"

"It can't be. I mean, remember Henry's dragons? We haven't seen anything like them before."

Henry is a new guest on Berk. Having unexpectedly crash-landed with his five dragons a few weeks ago, he and his dragons were welcome to stay until one his dragons, Wildstar, healed from her wounds. But this new stranger was still a stranger to everyone on Berk as he rarely comes out of the Academy where he and his dragons were currently staying at, except for the the Great Hall for food and even that was during the times there weren't many people there.

Astrid sighed. "It's not like Henry's been forthcoming with his dragons. And also, it's over for me. I've been trying to tell you. Stormfly and I... we're joining the Berk Guard."

Hiccup takes a second to process the news before he forces a smile "Oh. That's great... I'm happy for you guys…"

But Astrid saw right through him. "Look, maybe you should give some thought to what's next for you and Toothless." She advised before mounting Stormfly and flying back to Berk to get themselves prepared for their first day in the Berk guard.

After spending some more time on the sea-stack, Hiccup and Toothless finally decided to head back to Berk. When they arrived at their island, it was evening time and they stopped by at Raeda's art Shop.

The Henderson girl smiled when she saw them. "Hey guys! How's it going? Find any new dragons?"

"The only dragon we found out there was 'Barch'." Hiccup admitted with a sigh.

"Ah, you got Loki'ed by the Thorston twins again." Raeda said in understanding.

"Yep."

"Oh, by the way, Hicca stopped by a while ago to say that she's going to be late for dinner. She's got to do research on the herbal medicines available in the north." Raeda informed Hiccup.

Hiccup gave a humorless laugh. "Once again."

Raeda gave him a sympathetic look. "She knew you would react like this. She wanted me to tell you that she really wishes she hasn't been skipping out on you so much, but she can't help it with her workload. She really wishes she could have a day-off."

"It's fine I understand. Hicca can't do everything at once. She tried and look how well that turned out."

Before Astrid, Hicca was the last of the Dragon Riders to leave. She still wanted to study medicine, so at first she multitask. This, however, ended up with her staying up most of the night to catch up on her studies and missing a lot of meals. She fainted as a result and after that Hiccup, Stoick, Gobber, Midnight, Toothless and the others firmly decided that she needs to give up something from her schedule. She reluctantly chose to leave exploring new lands, which Hiccup repeatedly reassured her that it was okay.

Raeda then noticed her best friend's down expression. "I'm taking a wild guess and say that Astrid told you about the Berk guard?"

"Yep, that would be correct. It's just going to be me and Toothless from now on." Hiccup sighed. "Just flying through the wind, hoping to find...something at least.

Raeda noticed a couple of villagers walking towards her shop and brought out a sign to hang on the outer wall that says 'On Break'. "Sorry." She said to the customers who walked away, reluctantly. She then turned her attention back to Hiccup. "Look Hiccup, I don't blame you for wishing there was something more out there. When I left the group, it was a bittersweet moment for me. My best memories are flying with Sparkfire and you guys, getting ourselves into situations, getting ourselves _out_ of dangerous situation. And I would give anything to relive those moments. But the fact is, is that adventure over and now it's time for a new, completely different, but also exciting adventure to begin. And you know very well what adventure I'm talking about.

Reluctantly, Hiccup nodded.

"I'm not saying it will happen to you today or tomorrow, but it will happen someday. You can't avoid it forever."

"I know, I know, you're right, Rae." Hiccup admitted. "I'm just not ready to let go, still."

"I get it. It was the same for me." Raeda reassured. "But I don't think of it as a 'Goodbye forever.' it's more of a 'Goodbye for now.'." With that, she took off her 'On Break' sign and the previous villagers came rushing back to her stall. Hiccup left with Toothless, letting Raeda do her job.

Night-time came and Hiccup and Toothless were just wrapping up their night-flight. Hiccup looked down below at the of Berk as Toothless got closer to the ground. His eyes met the sight of the Dragon Academy. What was once a dragon-killing Arena was then turned into an Academy to study said dragons and was currently accommodating Henry and his five dragons

"I guess it's just you and me for now, bud." He said to his dragon. The Night Fury warbled back in understanding. He too, was also missing his dragon friends, especially his mate Midnight.

The next day, Bucket and Mulch were out fishing.

Bucket was trying to pull a net in from the water, but seemed to be struggling. "I can't get it!" He grunted.

"What's the problem, Bucket?" Mulch asked, coming to his side.

"I'm not sure, Mulch! I can't raise the net! Something's pulling that end down!" Bucket grunted, still holding on to the rope.

They both looked at each other with wide eyes as they reached the same conclusion. "SEA MONSTER!" Bucket then let go of the net, which was quickly pulled in the water. Then the water, was suddenly squirted at the two fishermen.

The Thorston twins and Barf and Belch then emerged from the water, laughing at the two unfortunate men.

"Loki'd!" The blonde twins taunted as they hi-fived each other.

"Oh, you!" Bucket said as he and Mulch glared at the two trouble-makers only for both men to be surprised when they realised that the twins had company. "Johann?"

"Help me!" The poor trader moaned weakly.

Completely oblivious to their new passenger and his plea, the Thorston twins continued to laugh. "Oh man, you should see the looks on your faces. Priceless!" Tuffnut said to Bucket and Mulch.

"Full Loki'd!" The blonde twins said.

"Bet you've never saw a full Loki coming, am I right, Johann?" Tuffnut asked the older man, before he and his sister realised who they were talking to. "Johann?"

Back on Berk, Hiccup and Toothless both arrive back at the Haddock Household where they find Stoick the Vast at the table.

"Hiccup! What are you doing home so early?" Hiccup and Hicca's father greeted.

"Oh, I just... wanted to spend some time with my dear old dad." Hiccup explained awkwardly. Which wasn't entirely a lie. He finally decided to take Astrid and Raeda's advice from yesterday and move on from exploring. The only problem is actually admitting it out loud, especially to his dad. "Yeah, you know, we never get to talk anymore. So…"

"Alright. What is it?" Stoick asked, bringing his full attention to the boy.

"What's what?" Hiccup asked, playing dumb.

"What is it?" Stoick asked more clearly.

Hiccup chuckled nervously. "Can't a son spend some quality time with his dad?"

"Not this one." Stoick stated as-matter-of-fact. "Not usually, at least. So, let's hear it."

Hiccup sighed. His dad knew him too well. He might as well get it out and over with. "All right. Did you know Astrid just joined the Berk Guard?"

"I heard that. Good for her." Stoick commented.

"And the other riders have got their different things going on?" Hiccup continued.

"What are you saying, son?" His father asked.

"I'm saying, I don't know. Maybe it's time for me…"

Hiccup was interrupted when their door was suddenly slammed open, revealing the Thorston twins supporting a weak Trader Johann.

"Johann! What happened to you?" The Berkian chief asked with concern.

"Ooh... Dagur!" Johann groaned weakly.

That got Hiccup's full attention as a Toothless growled at the very name. "What about Dagur?" The Haddock boy asked.

"He's out! He's more Berserk than ever! And from the way he was talking, Hiccup. You and Hicca are number one on his revenge list!" Johann warned before he passed out.

The group wasted no time. They called for the rest of the Dragon Riders and brought the unconscious trader to the Academy. Henry was fine with them bringing Johann to the Academy and even left with his five dragons for a walk, something they don't usually do during the day. The Berkians may believe that he may be doing it to give them privacy, but in truth, he didn't want a passerby to recognise him and spread word of his whereabouts around the Archipelago. Though the odds of that happening was slim, Henry was definitely not going to take that chance. Especially with certain people out there waiting to get a hold of him.

"All we got from Johann before he passed out was this, Dagur escaped from Outcast Island by commandeering his ships." Hiccup explained to the other Dragon Riders while Hicca did a medical check-up on her new patient. "He threw Johann overboard about here." He pointed to an area on the map

"Oh, so what you're saying is Dagur could be anywhere by now." Snotlout asked, though it was more of a statement.

"Well, technically, yes." Hiccup admitted

"Oh, great. Great, great, great. So So that just leaves... I don't know, let me think about this... the entire ocean to search! No, thank you!" The Jorgenson boy complained.

"Quit complaining Snotlout. At least we know that Dagur is out there. We can be on better guard now. Plus there is a really strong chance he could bring an Armada to Berk for his revenge." Raeda pointed out.

"Miss Hicca." Johann asked weakly, blinking a few times.

"Johann, you're awake." Hiccup said.

"And feeling much better, thank you for asking." Johann stated as he got up with Hicca's help. "Thank you, Miss Hicca. More importantly, I have more than a strong suspicion of where our nefarious foe may be heading." He said pointing to an area on the map.

"Outside the Archipelago?" Hiccup questioned.

"No! Just inside the fog bank on our outer group of islands." Johann corrected.

"We've never been out that far." Hicca stated.

"When Dagur commandeered my precious ship, he also came into possession of a very important map... one that leads to a graveyard of ships hidden in that fog bank." Johann explained.

"Wow! That's the first place I'd go." Snotlout said sarcastically.

"If I may be allowed to finish?" Johann asked, getting annoyed at the obnoxious boys' interruption.

"Johann, last time we allowed you to finish, we ended up on Breakneck Bog. So, no... no finishing." The Jorgenson boy answered.

"Enough!" Hiccup cut in. "What's so special about the graveyard and why would he go there?"

"Well, you see-" Johann started.

"The short version, please." Hiccup asked, interrupting the older man.

"It's where I store all my treasures and wares." Johann stated simply, surprising the other teens.

"Wow, concise, to the point. Who knew he had it in him?" Tuffnut wondered.

"Which reminds me of the first time I was labeled as 'concise'!" Johann said, getting ready to start another one of his tales. "He was a young man, very ugly, I actually-"

"Johann." Hicca interrupted, getting his attention.

"Yes?"

"Focus. Is there anything else?"

"As a matter of fact, there is one ship you must avoid at all cost. It's called... The _Reaper_. Riddled with booby traps from stem to stern. Barely made it out with my life the only time I dared venture aboard." Johann narrated. "Oh, wow!"

"Okay, Toothless, let's go." Hiccup said to his dragon, before turning to the others. "Unless, of course, any of you can make time out of your busy schedules to capture a dangerous maniac?"

It was a no-brainer for the others to choose to go with Hiccup and Toothless and soon enough, all eight teens were in the air with their dragons off to their destination.

Hiccup smiled at his he looked at his group flying in the air, a sight that he didn't think he would see for a long while. "This is pretty great, huh, bud?" He said to his best dragon friend. "Seems like forever since we all flew as a group. Let's see how rusty they are." He then shouted out "V Formation!" Immediately, the rest of the teens steered their dragons so that they could form a V-shape with Hiccup and Toothless. "Not bad. Diamond Formation!" They did the same thing, this time forming a diamond shape.

"How rusty does this guy think we are?" Tuffnut asked his twin.

Answer was a little bit rusty because Fishlegs, who was positioned with Meatlug below, ended up getting squished between the Gronckle and the Zippleback. "Uh... guys? A little tight on the diamond, are we?"

Hiccup chuckled. "Just like old times."

"Five thousand pounds of flaming muscle coming through!" Snotlout shouted as he and Hookfang flew ahead.

"Ever classic." Hiccup said as he watched his cousin fly off, no doubt will rejoin the group once he realises he has no idea where he is going.

Hiccup then turned to his twin who was flying alongside of him with Midnight. "What do you think, sis? Like old times?"

"Definitely, and I'm loving it." Hicca answered smiling. "As much as I love studying medicine, it's nice to get a break once in awhile."

The group finally arrived at the Ship Graveyard when night time came.

Hiccup looked around in amazement. There were different ships with crest on the sails that the Haddock boy did not recognise. "I knew it! I knew there was more!"

"Some of these ships, I've never seen anything like them before." Astrid observed.

"Okay, everybody fan out! If anyone sees any signs of Dagur, sound the signal." Hiccup ordered the others.

The group split up and searched. The dragons were clearly bothered with the atmosphere as their riders tried to calm them down. Meatlug even spewed some lava out because she felt scared, much to her riders dismay.

Snotlout smirked as he noticed the other dragons distress. "Haha, Hookfang! These guys are awful sailors!" He definitely was not paying attention ahead of him as he ended up crashing into the mass of one of the ships as Hookfang continued to fly. "Oof! A little help here...Hookfang!" The Monstrous Nightmare, merely gave his rider a look, seeming uninterested. "Hey! I saw that look! What did we talk about?"

While searching, Hiccup spotted a ship in the distance that seemed to fit the description Johann gave of the Reaper. "That's gotta be the Reaper."

The gang regroups and land on a ship that was parallel to the Reaper.

"No sign of Dagur." Hiccup concluded after the others gave their reports.

"Looks like we've got here first. What's the plan?" Astrid asked.

"We wait." Hiccup answered.

"So that we can plan a surprise attack on him." Raeda guessed.

"Wait a minute. For how long do we wait? This fog really gives Meatlug the willies." Fishlegs said worriedly, holding on to his dragon.

"He has a point. We can't wait here forever." Astrid stated.

"We can't just leave Johann's treasure here either. Dagur will steal them!" Hiccup pointed out

"And use the profit to build a new armada." Hicca agreed.

"Not if we steal them first!" Ruffnut chimed in.

"That is the dumbest idea I've ever heard! I hereby disown you." Tuffnut declared.

"Actually, you known what? I actually like it!" Hiccup said.

Tuffnut looked back to his twin with open arms. "Welcome back to the family."

"Here's the plan." Hiccup said. "We search the ship, gather Johann's treasure and take it back to Berk."

"But keep your eyes open for Dagur. He could show up anytime." Hicca warned.

Suddenly a loud hissing noise filled the air.

"What is that?" Astrid wondered, looking around.

"Has Dagur's voice changed?" Tuffnut questioned.

Unfortunately for them it was Dagur. Out of the water emerged several large eels, surrounding the ship. And they didn't seem happy with their new guests.

"Eels! Everybody get to your dragons before they get spooked and take off!" Hiccup ordered.

"Uh, I think it's a little too late for that right now, Hiccup." Raeda said.

And she was right, the dragons were spooked as soon as they saw the eels

"Ohhhh... Hold me, Meatlug!" Fishlegs pleaded, running to his dragons. Clearly, the dragons weren't the only ones afraid of the giant eels.

Unable to handle the sight of the large eels, all the dragons, except for Toothless flew off, leaving their riders behind.

This definitely did not help calm the riders one bit.

Toothless was even more on edge. "Calm down, bud! It's only a couple of eels! Really big, screaming mean eels-" Hiccup tried.

One of the eels stuck a side of the ship, tilting it.

"AHHHH!" Tuffnut yelled as he and the others struggled to find something to hold on to.

"The eels are pulling the ship down!" Fishlegs exclaimed.

Snotlout grabbed onto the mast of the ship as he slid down. "Fishlegs! Grab my foot!" Fishlegs did so, causing Snotlout to regret saying that. Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Hicca, Raeda and Hiccup joined them, forming a human chain. "Oh, you ate a full breakfast! _[entire gang grabs each other's feet]_ You ate everybody's breakfast!

"We're gonna live!" Tuffnut cheered.

Astrid tried to grab onto Hiccups' foot as she slid, only to miss and descend closer to the eel.

"Astrid! No!" Hiccup cried, holding out his hand.

"Most of us are gonna live!" Tuffnut corrected.

"HICCUP!" Astrid grabbed her axe as she got closer to the eel, prepare to fight her way out. Just then Hiccup and Toothless appeared and grabbed her, pulling her away from the eel. "Thanks, Hiccup!"

The eels then decided they were done tormenting the smaller group and retreated back into the water.

"Pardon me. Does anyone else think that Johann could have warned us about... I don't know... THE GIANT SCREAMING EELS?!" Snotlout shouted, already planning on having a talk with the Trader about that.

"Snotlout, would you relax?" Hiccup said, recovering from what just happened. "The dragons will be back. In the meantime, we stick with the plan. We find Johann's treasure. Quietly."

Snotlout was definitely not happy with that and made it known by stomping around as he walked. Hiccup sighed and turned to look back at the Reaper.

Hicca and Astrid noticed this. "Why are you staring at that ship?" The Hofferson girl questioned.

"Because I'm thinking of checking it out." Hiccup answered.

"Knew it." Hicca said.

"The _Reaper_? The ship Johann warned us about?" Astrid pointed out.

"Exactly. A ship covered with booby traps from step to stern. I'm thinking, what is on there they don't want people to find?" Hiccup inferred.

"I'm coming with you." Hicca stated firmly. "This one you had to see coming."

The Haddock twins both got on Toothless and flew to the ship. Astrid decided to join the others in searching for the treasure.

The trio got on the ship and looked around. "This boat is definitely not from the archipelago." Hiccup noted.

"I'll say. These carvings, the design on the sail... I've never seen anything like this. And dad made sure to teach all the tribes' crest." Hicca agreed.

Hiccups' attention then went to the cages on deck. "And this metal…"

That got Hicca's attention as well and the two decided to inspect the cage. Toothless started growling, indicating that there was something amiss. "Come on, bud, it's just an empty cage." Hiccup reassured.

But he and his twin both jolted back as a bird suddenly flew out of the supposedly empty cage.

"Okay, now... now it's an empty cage." Hiccup said, regaining his breath.

"Let's move on before you're proven wrong and something else comes out of the cage." Hicca suggested.

Back on the other ship, the other teens continued to explore the ship. The Thorston twins came upon boxes full of jewels. "Jewels, jewels!" Tuffnut cheered hugging the jewels. "You know what we're gonna do? We're bringing them back for the family. Mom will be so happy. Wait, but how are we going to carry all these back to Berk?"

Ruffnut's response was opening her mouth, which was revealed to be stuffed with jewels.

Tuffnut gasped at that. "Great idea, sis! I can't believe I didn't think about that. Here, I may do it too." He then shoved more jewels into his sisters' mouth. "I'm also gonna put jewels in your mouth. Yeah! I gotta keep mine empty so I can talk."

"Keep comin'. Keep 'em coming." Ruffnut managed to mumble out, enough for her brother to hear as he continued to stuff more and more jewels.

Fishlegs felt like he was in Valhalla with his findings. "Whoo! Oh, yeah! Oh, yeah! Fishlegs! Maps, old books, charts! Oh ho ho ho! There's no greater treasure than knowledge." He said to himself, hugging some of the books.

"I'm gonna be rich! I'm gonna be rich! Rich, rich, rich, rich, rich!" Snotlout chanted excitedly as he looked for treasure. He then spotted an ornate chest "Hmm, well, hello, Mr. Ornate Box. What treasures do you hold?" He then started laughing as he went to the box. "Rich! Ho! Rich!" He opened the box but what he found, wasn't exactly jewels. "Hair! Ew! Who keeps hair in a box? There's got to be more! More hair? Ech! Man, what a rip-off." He said, getting up. That's when he noticed portraits of rich vikings with hair exactly like the ones he found."Or is it?" He then started trying on the hair and found himself liking what he sees. "I'm Stoick the Vast! Hiccup, Hicca you're both such a disappointment! Why can't either you be more like Snotlout? Eh, I'm Ruffnut... or am I Tuffnut? Who can tell?" He laughed at his own joke. "I'm... Oh, actually, this is kind of nice." He commented feeling the hair.

At some point, Raeda wandered to where Snotlout was and saw him trying on the wig. The sight of him doing his impressions and enjoying the hair a little too much caused her to slowly back away without another word, feeling very creeped out.

Back on the Reaper the auburn twins decided to explore below the deck, but the dragon was a little hesitant. "Come on, bud. Don't you want to see what's down below? All right, fine. Guess Hicca and I are going alone."

"Hold on, bro. We still need to look out for-"

Before Hicca could finish that sentence, however, Hicca tripped on a trick-wire, causing a rope to latch onto his foot and drag him off the ship!

Hicca quickly grabbed onto Hiccup as Toothless blasted the rope, freeing Hiccup.

"For traps." Hicca finished.

"Okay. Nobody goes to this much trouble unless there's something on this boat that they don't want found." Hiccup said as his sister helped him up. He then went first down the hatch, being careful with every step. "Watch your step, guys." Hiccup warned Hicca and Toothless. "Just as Hiccup brought his prosthetic foot to the floor, a bear trap was activated and clamp that foot. "One of the benefits of a metal leg, I suppose."

"I'm just glad that it was your metal leg that got caught." Hicca commented.

She and Toothless made it down without any incident and as soon as they got the bear trap off Hiccup, they started looking around.

Toothless whined as he found a row of cages, more specifically what was inside the cages.

Hiccup and Hicca realised why. "Is that?"

"Dragon bones." Hiccup finished. He put a comforting hand on Toothless and Hicca followed suit. "I'm sorry you had to see this, bud. Whoever commanded this ship was certainly no friend of dragons."

"Let's get out of here." Hicca said, deciding that they've seen enough.

As they left, Hiccup stepped on a plank which actually sunk an inch lower. Then arrows started flying from the walls!

"All right, come on, Hicca, Toothless! Let's go!" Hiccup urged. The three of them ran for their lives and reached the hallway, away from the flying arrows. Hiccup then noticed the room ahead. "Commander's quarters. Stay close, guys." As they got close to the doors. Hiccup turned to his sister and dragon. "Okay, so here's the plan…"

A second later, Toothless blasted the door open

"You were saying?" Hicca asked her twin.

"I like yours better." Hiccup said to Toothless, who gave a dragony-laugh in reply. The trio cautiously walked inside where they were greeted by a human skeleton at sitting at his desk wearing an armour. Hiccup's eyes went to the skeletons' hand, or rather what was under the hand. "What is this thing?"

Hicca, however, was more focused on the skeleton. "Radius, ulna, scaphoid, lunate, triquetrum-"

"Sis, this isn't a good time to be revising all human bones in a skeleton." Hiccup said, snapping her out of it.

"Oh, sorry. Zoned out for a bit." Hicca said sheepishly.

Hiccup then went back to the mysterious cylindrical object under the skeletal hand. "Whatever it is, if it's on this ship, it's no good for dragons. Which means we're not leaving it here for Dagur." He then lifts up the skeleton and picks up the cylinder. "Hmm... Huh. Well, that wasn't too-" He retracted his statement when a giant axe swung right in front of him. "GIANT AXE! Guys, run!" They started to run. Unfortunately, one of them triggered another trap causing spikes to jut out from the floor. It was difficult but they were able to navigate back to the ladder leading to the deck just as the arrows started firing once again.

Thankfully the three of them made it on deck, only to be face-to-face with Dagur the Deranged and his Berserker soldiers!

"Toothless, hold." Hiccup warned before the Night Fury could fire. He made sure to hide the cylindrical object behind his back.

"Hiccup! Hicca! Did either of you miss me? 'Cause I sure missed you two. Every day for three years, I thought about both of you." He then steps aside to reveal the other Dragon Riders have been captured and locked in a cage.

"Astrid!" Hiccup shouted.

"Oh, no!" Hicca exclaimed.

"And you too Mr. Night Fury." Dagur greeted the male Night Fury, who only growled in response. "Hope we get to meet Mrs. Night Fury soon."

"Sorry, Hiccup. He got the drop on us while we were searching…" Astrid explained.

"Uh, quiet! Can't you see my brother, sister and I are having a moment?" Dagur said.

"Excuse me?" Hicca said to deranged teen.

"We are not your siblings and we are definitely not having a moment." Hiccup stated firmly.

"Oh, well, I was. Look at you, all grown up!" The Berserkian chief said, taking a good look at the younger teens. "And quite the ladies' man, I'd wager. Hmm? Hmm?" He addressed that one to Hiccup.

"Dagur, what do you want?" Hicca demanded.

"Duh." Snotlout interjected flipping the wig he was still wearing. "He wants the jewels."

"He's not getting my family's jewels. No way! And I'll protect them at all cost!" Tuffnut vowed, before turning to Snotlout and eyeing his wig. "Also, what is with that hair?"

"Ha! It's royal hair, I'll have you know." Snotlout said proudly.

"What it is, is the source of the nightmares for the next few days." Raeda said annoyed.

"Haven't gotten rid of the Greek Chorus, I see." Dagur said to the Haddock twins. "Anyway, yes, I'll take the jewels. His too." He first pointed to Tuffnut, then to Ruffnut.

One of the Berserker soldiers hit Ruffnut, causing her to cough up the jewels still in her mouth. "Watch it, pal!" She warned, glaring at the offender. The guard simply laugh, causing Ruffnut to spit one jewel that was still in her mouth, straight into his mouth, causing him to start choking.

"Oops, thought that was the guy. Never can tell with those two." Dagur chuckled. "And I'll also take whatever it is you're hiding behind your back." He gestured to Hiccup, who still had his hands behind his back. "Come on, hand it over like a good boy. Brothers share, you know."

"Not your brother." Hicca said in a low voice, while her twin handed over the mysterious object.

"You know you're not going to get very far with that thing, right?" Hiccup stated.

"Oh, boy, here we go. Must we always do the same dance, Hiccup? You, Hicca and I? Not that either of you aren't fabulous dancers." Dagur taunted.

Toothless continued to growl. Hiccup put a hand on his dragon. "Easy, bud, not yet."

"That's right, Mr. Night Fury. Today is not the day, but it's coming! And soon. Be sure to tell Mrs. Night Fury wherever she's hiding." Dagur sneered. "Now, if you'll excuse me. I've got people to see, an army to build, revenge to plot. Ooh, so much to do and so little time! Isn't this exciting, guys? You... You two must have been so bored over the last three years."

"Yeah, he's got a point about that. Not enough explosions." Tuffnut chimed in.

"Alas, my time here has come to an end." Dagur said as he and his men went back to their ship. "Farewell for now, brother and sister. Until we meet again on the field of battle."

As soon as the Berserkers were gone, the Haddock twins wasted no time trying to free their friends from the cage.

"Forget about us! Go after him!" Raeda urged.

"What are you two waiting for?!" Snotlout said.

"Are you guys sure you'll be okay?" Hiccup asked worriedly.

"We're fine! Go!" Astrid reassured.

"Bro, you guys go after Dagur. I'll stay here and free the others." Hicca said. She noticed her brothers' hesitation. "Now's not the time to second guess things, Hiccup! Get Dagur before he gets away!"

Hiccup then nodded and got on Toothless. They took off after the ship while Hicca took a few things out of her satchel to help pick the lock. "Let's hope the lock isn't rigged with a trap."

Hiccup and Toothless were spotted by one of the Berserk guards. "The boy and Night Fury are coming after us, sir, just like you said." He reported.

His chief smirked at that. "Still predictable, aren't you, brother?" He signalled his crew, to get the catapult ready, then waited for the right moment. "Fire!" A boulder was fired right at Hiccup and Toothless.

Luckily the duo were able to dodge in time. "You missed, brother!" Hiccup taunted.

But Dagur merely shook his head. "Hiccup, you should know by now, I never miss."

Hiccup eyes widened in realisation, as he turned around and saw that indeed, the boulder was heading straight to the ship with the other teens! "Oh, NO!"

It was too late for him or Toothless to do anything but watch as the boulder hit the ship, catching Hicca off guard, who still hadn't unlock the cage. She held onto the cage, dropping her mini-tools, as the others called out for Hiccups' help.

"What's it going to be, Hiccup? Catch me? Save your sister and friends? Ooh, tough one! Glad I'm not in your shoe." Dagur taunted, giving a maniacal laugh.

 _To Be Continued..._


	2. Dragon Eye of the Beholder II

**A/N: Whew! Done! Sorry for the delay. My finals got finished two days ago, but now I'm back. Thanks again to Arwen the Storyteller and snake screamer for your help in ideas and lines. Also I don't know if you guys know but I did update my bio page with information on Hicca and Raedas' looks in RTTE, with help from Arwen the Storyteller.**

 **Side note, anyone reading the comic version of how to train your dragon? I started reading it online, but I can't find the fourth volume. If anyone has a link to it or something that you could share, that would be appreciated. It's titled 'The Stowaway'**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own anything from How to train your dragon**

 **Chapter 2: Dragon Eye of the Beholder II**

 _Previously: After three years, the Dragon Riders found Trader Johann adrift. They have discovered that Dagur the Deranged and the Berserkers escaped from the Outcast prison. Information from Trader Johann lead the riders to a ship yard. Unfortunately, they have been separated from their dragons, except for Toothless, after an encounter with giant eels. Hiccup, Hicca and Toothless then decide to explore the Reaper and there they find a mysterious cylindrical object. But trouble arises when they find Dagur the Deranged and the Berserkers having captured the other teens. Reluctantly, Hiccup gave up their new discovery and left Hicca to free the others as he and Toothless go after Dagur. But the Berserker chief has one more trick up his sleeve as he launched a boulder right at the where the others were!_

Completely torn, Hiccup looked between the retreating Berserker ship, which has a potentially dangerous object in the hands of a deranged maniac, and the sinking ship, which has his sister and friends with no way to escape.

"Get us out of here!" Fishlegs pleaded over the gangs screaming.

"Hiccup!" Snotlout yelled.

"Get us out of here!" Ruffnut hollered.

Dagur gave a maniacal laugh, clearly enjoying himself more than he has in three years. "Isn't this exciting? What will he choose, ladies and gentlemen? Saving his twin and friends or capturing his mortal enemy, his brother?"

Having made his decision, Hiccup steered Toothless towards the Reaper.

"Hmm. Disappointing, but all-so-typically Hiccup." Dagur commented, feeling triumph.

As Hiccup and Toothless reach the ship, the teens trapped inside the cage shouts at him to help them, while Hicca tries to hang on from outside the cage.

"Sis, give me your hand!" Hiccup called to her, extending his own arm. Hicca reached out to grab it, when suddenly a giant eel surged out of the water and grab Hicca but her foot, pulling her into the water.

"HICCA!" Hiccup, Raeda and Astrid yelled.

"What is wrong with these eels?!" Snotlout yelled.

Toothless dived in after them but was stop when two more eels came after him. As much as the Night Fury wanted to save his human's sister, he knew he would be of no help if he ate another eel. Hicca was pulled underwater, much to her brothers' horror. Suddenly, a plasma blast erupted underwater and Hicca re-emerged in Midnights' paws.

"Oh thank goodness!" Hiccup said, sighing in relief, feeling some of the weight lifted from his shoulders.

"Woah, that was way too close." Fishlegs said, sighing in relief.

"We are never gonna be close to eel food again!" Raeda declared.

"Midnight, have I ever told you, you have the most amazing timing ever?" Hicca said to her dragon. The female Night Fury warbled and tossed her human back into her saddle.

"Hey, Hiccup? Now that your sister is alive and well, could you, oh I don't know, _save us from the sinking ship?!_ " Snotlout demanded, which was backed up by pleas from the others.

Hiccup snapped back to action. "Okay, move back from the door!" The teens did as they were told. "Toothless, plasma blast." A second later the cage was blasted, but oddly enough, there wasn't even a scratch on the cage.

"Dragon-proof bars?" Fishlegs noted. "Oh, fascinating."

"Whoever built this ship really knew what they were doing." Hiccup commented.

The ship continues to rock, causing the trapped teens to get tossed around. "Oh, you know what would be more fascinating?" Snotlout asked rhetorically. "Getting us out of here!"

Hicca and Midnight flew to their boys. "Bro, let's do a combined blast. Maybe we can create a weak spot." Hicca suggested.

"Worth a shot." Hiccup agreed.

"Toothless/Midnight, now!" The two Night Furies fired two plasma blasts each at the same spot but to no avail.

"We need more firepower." Hiccup said.

"Guys, dragon calls!" Hicca ordered the other teens.

The teens immediately began to call out to their dragons as water started to fill the cage. That's when the eels decided to make another appearance.

"Oh, come on! Why'd it have to be EELS?!" Snotlout complained. Toothless and Midnight blasted at the eels to keep them away.

While their dragons were keeping the eels at bay, the Haddock twins struggled to open the cage. "Come on!" Hiccup grunted. Suddenly an eel grabbed Hiccup by the leg and tried to pull him into the ocean. Luckily, Toothless was able to blast the eel away. "Thanks, bud." Hiccup then takes out his prosthetic leg and attempts to pry open the cage along with his twin.

The trapped teens continued to call out for their dragons.

"Hookfang! Help us! I'm important!"

"Stormfly!"

"Sparkfire, please!"

"Barf, Belch, get your butts over here!"

The ship then started to tilt upwards. "Uhh! Toothless/Midnight!" The auburn twins called.

Both Night Furies prepared to fire at the cage, only to realise that they both reached their shot limit. They then resorted to calling out to the other dragons and soon enough Sparkfire, Stormfly, Hookfang, Meatlug, Barf and Belch came to their riders rescue.

Astrid, Raeda and Ruffnut, who were hanging on to the bars from above, lost their grip and fell into Fishlegs, Snotlout and Tuffnut. The cage door finally opened and Snotlout and Fishlegs were fast enough to grab onto the bars. Ruffnut managed to grab Snotlout's feet, followed by Raeda grabbing her feet. Astrid and Tuffnut formed a chain with Fishlegs, with the Thorston boy somehow acquiring Hiccup's prosthetic in the midst of the chaos.

"That was great." Tuffnut said, hugging the prosthetic. The eels started going after him (maybe they wanted the prosthetic?", before Barf and Belch blasted them away. "Oh, so _now_ you decide to show up." He and the other teens got on their respective dragons and flew high above the ocean, away from the eels.

"That was way too close." Fishlegs said sighing a breath of relief.

"Just like old times." Raeda commented.

"Hiccup, Hicca, what are we doing?" Astrid questioned

"You guys go back to Berk." Hiccup stated.

"We're going after Dagur." Hicca finished. "If there's one thing we know about the cylinder object, it's that it shouldn't be in Dagur's hands."

The Haddock twins flew off before anyone could object.

On the Berserker ship, Dagur was admiring his new-found possession. "Amazing. I've never seen anything quite like this."

"Me, neither. What do you suppose it is?" Savage wondered, trying to get a closer look at the object.

Dagur just shoved him away. "Don't ask ridiculous questions, Savage! Just know this... it's mine now, all mine!" The Berserker chief chuckled at that. "Now, what exactly is it that you do? Tell Dagur, now. That's it. Don't be afraid. Tell Daddy Dagur."

But the young chief stopped when he spotted Hicca and Midnight flying right at him at high speed. Quickly, he dodged as she fails to grab the object from his hands, Midnight hovers above the ship as she and her rider face Dagur

"Well, I see Mrs. Night Fury finally decided to show up. Too bad Hicca, these three years of waiting just helped me develop my skills." Dagur boasted.

But Hicca merely smirked as she crossed her arms. "Oh Dagur, you should know by now I never go anywhere near you without a plan."

Savage looked behind his chief and saw Hiccup and Toothless flying at them. "Uh, Dagur?"

"Uhh! What now?! Another stupid question?!" Dagur asked in annoyance, still facing Hicca.

"More of an observation." Savage answered.

But before he could say anything else, Hiccup swooped in and grabbed the object right from the older teens hands. "Thank you kindly."

With that Midnight provided cover fire allowing the four of them to make a quick escape.

Dagur scowled as he watched the group disappear from view. "See what you did?" He demanded, stomping at Savage. . "You distracted me. And now my pretty, cylindrical, mysterious object is gone." He turned back to the direction, the dragon riders went. "Good for you, Hiccup and Hicca! Good for you! But I got all the gold! You hear me? All the gold! All! The! Gold! He gave a laugh and then shoved his right-hand man to the ground. "You know, you can never have nice things around those two." He walked away, stepping on Savage, who groaned in pain.

The teens returned to Berk safely and enlisted Gobber's help in figuring out the mysterious object.

The blacksmith/dragon dentist tried to open the object.

"Have you ever seen anything like this Dragon Eye before?" Hiccup asked his mentor.

"Dragon Eye? How do you know it's called a Dragon Eye?" Tuffnut questioned.

"Because Hicca and I named it." Hiccup answered.

"It's better than calling it 'cylinder object'." Hicca explained.

"Whoa, whoa. Aren't we supposed on stuff like that?" Snotlout objected.

"Fine. All in favor, say 'Dragon Eye'." Hiccup said to the group.

"Dragon Eye!" All teens, except Snotlout immediately said.

"Happy?" Hicca asked.

"Just wanted to make sure we voted." Snotlout huffed, folding his arms.

"Can you open it, Gobber?" Astrid asked as she watched the older man struggling.

Gobber chuckled while still trying to open the Dragon Eye. "Can I open it?" He mocked. "I once opened a 500-year-old giant clam at the bottom of the ocean with my bare hook. Can I open it? Ha! I think it's going to be... Huh. Aha." He gave the Dragon Eye a twist, which caused it to shoot a small dart right at Tuffnut.

Tuffnut looked at the dart sticking out of his arm in confusion. "Ugh. What is that? That looks like a-" He passed out before he could say anything else. Ruffnut laughed at that.

"Even the Dragon Eye has been rigged with a trap." Hicca said.

"Well, that was... something, maybe." Gobber said, going back to opening the strange object.

"Gobber, maybe you shouldn't-" Hiccup tried to advised, but it fell on deaf ears.

"Trust me. I'm... It's alright," Suddenly a green gas sprays out of the Dragon Eye. Everyone quickly moves away, holding their breaths, except for Tuffnut who just came back to consciousness.

"I'm okay. I got hit with something, but now-" He gets a sniff of the green gas. "No, scratch that." He falls back down into a spasm.

"Yeah, I'm thinking we should probably go get Gothi because I'm not well versed in poisonous gases yet." Hicca said..

The group goes to Gothis' hut and explained the situation to her. The elder then brought medicine for the Thorston boy to ingest.

Tuffnut started coughing and rubbing his teeth after consuming the medicine. "My teeth are itching. My teeth are itchy."

Gothi started to write something in the sand, which Gobber interprated. "She says that's a good sign. Means it's working."

"Thank you, Gothi. We really appreciate this." Hiccup said to the healer.

Gothi nodded to him before noticing Gobber still trying to open the Dragon Eye. Her eyes widened in shock at the Dragon Eye as she pointed to it's key-hole.

"Gothi, are you okay? What is it?" Hicca asked in concerned.

Gothi simply pointed to the scar on her arm and walked, not wanting to share more.

Hiccup's eyes widened in realisation. "Gothi... Her... Her scar... it matches the keyhole."

"Yeah, and it looked like a dragon bite to me." Fishlegs observed.

"Oh, it is. But she doesn't like to talk about it." Gobber said.

"She doesn't like to talk about anything." Fishlegs pointed out.

"Oh, that's why she writes in the dirt with her stick." Tuffnut said. "I thought that was just, like, her thing."

"Yeah, like Snotlout being a woman repellent." Ruffnut snorted, ignoring said boy's scowl as she hi-fived Raeda.

"Maybe we could use the stick to itch the teeth." Tuffnut said, rubbing his teeth.

"Tuff, leave your teeth alone. It'll just make it worse." Hicca advised.

"Easy for you to say." Tuffnut said, still rubbing his teeth.

The Haddock twins shared a look and nodded. They started walking to the direction where Gothi left. "Where are you two going?"

"After her." Hicca answered.

"We have to find out what kind of dragon made that scar. It could be the key to opening the Dragon Eye." Hiccup explained.

"But it doesn't look like she'd be eager to share that story." Raeda pointed out.

"Hold on. I have ways of making her talk." Gobber chimed in, before chuckling. "Well... scribble, anyway."

That night, Gobber comes back to Gothi's house with a cauldron full of warm soup.

"It's the old bat's weakness." Gobber said smugly to the teens. "Isn't it? Come on. You know you can't resist Gobber's home-made yak noodle soup."

True to Gobbers' prediction, Gothi started downing the soup.

"Ho ho! She downed that like a yak in a heat wave." Fishlegs commented, before turning to Hiccup and Raeda. "That makes sense, right?" The two just shrugged.

Hicca then stepped forward to Gothi. "Now, tell me about this bite mark."

Sighing, her mentor picked up her staff and started scribbling in the dirt.

Gobber went to translate. "When I was a turkey neck-"

 _WHACK!_

"Ow! Teenager. Sorry. I had a longing to climb Glacier Island to find pure glacial water known for its healing , I went with two vegetables."

 _WHACK!_

"Ow! Vikings. Sorry." Gobber chuckled, rubbing his head. "I'm a bit rusty."

"Maybe I should translate instead?" Hicca offered.

"Nonsense, Hicca, I can-" Gothi gave him another whack, telling him to let the girl translate. "Okay, you do it." He stepped aside to let Hicca read the scribbles.

 _A flashback shows a teenage Gothi walking along Glacier Island with the two other vikings during a snowstorm._

 **We had only been at the summit for a few hours, when we were hit by a terrible snowstorm. That's when it attacked.**

 _A mysterious dragon appeared and chased after the three vikings._

 **It was vicious. Relentless. And impossible to see in the white-out.**

 _Gothi runs from the dragon and gets cornered. Her fellow vikings weren't that lucky enough to escape this new foe._

 **The Snow Wraith.**

 _The Snow Wraith bites Gothi's hand and she retaliates by hitting it with her staff. The dragon then hurls her into a mound of snow before walking past]_

 _End Flashback_

Hicca continued to translate. "I'll never know why it didn't finish me off that day. I left knowing only one thing."

"That I never wanted to smooch that dragon again." Gobber finished before turning confused. "Smooch?"

 _WHACK!_

"Ow! See! Never wanted to see it again." Gobber corrected, rubbing his head again. "You know, your drawing ain't what it used to be, old woman." Gothi raised her staff, getting ready to hit him again. "But your swing, strong as ever!"

"Gothi, a tooth from the Snow Wraith is the key to unlocking the Dragon Eye. You have to help us find it." Hiccup pleaded.

Gothi frowned and scribbled into the dirt again.

"Let me do the last one!" Gobber said, elbowing Hicca before she could read the scribble, much to her annoyance.

Gobber read the scribbles to himself, before raising his eyebrows. "I can't say that to them. They're the Chief's kids! Gothi erased the scribble and tried again. "She says, no way she's ever going back. And besides, Berk needs her. It's true. She's the best healer we've got."

"I can take over while you're gone. You have been teaching me." Hicca offered.

"Hicca, let me do this. The others will need you more with them out there than here." Gobber said.

"Are you sure you can cover for Gothi?" Hicca questioned feeling a little skeptic, because it is Gobber they were talking about.

"Of course I am. I've watched Gothi work so many times, just like you, I know this place like the back of my hand." He reassured, lifting up his hand only to realise that he brought up his prosthetic hand, he then gave a nervous chuckle.

Hiccup ignored the last part. "See, Gobber can cover for you. So can you help us?"

Gothi still wasn't ready to give in.

Hicca noticed this. "Gothi, you have been like a grandmother to all these years and I understand how scary it was to encounter such a vicious dragon who took out your entire search party, but when you were our age, you always wanted to have adventure and get answers to questions to things you've always wanted to know.

Hiccup held the Dragon Eye to her. "This object can help us do the same thing. But only if you help us unlock it"

Gothi looked at the Haddock twins, before smiling; she was ready to help them.

The teens set out on their dragons, with Gothi in tow, to Glacier Island.

"Look at the size of that island." Hiccup said, when their destination came into view.

Fishlegs was reading through the Book of Dragons. "Oh! The Book of Dragons mentions the Snow Wraith, but doesn't have any information on it. Can you believe this? A brand-new dragon. It's been so long, I've forgotten what this feeling is." Fishlegs said excitedly. He looked to see the twins giving him blank stares. "Sorry. Excited about the new dragon."

"You mean the dragon that single-handedly wiped out Gothi's entire search party." Astrid asked, wryly.

"That would be correct. So worth the long flight." Fishlegs said.

"Speak for yourself! Your neck hair's not covered in old lady drool!" Snotlout complained. He wasn't happy because he ended up having to take Gothi with him and Hookfang. That didn't sound so bad, but the elder fell asleep and was leaning on Snotlout. The Jorgenson boy wasn't happy because as he mentioned, Gothi started drooling.

"Okay, here we are." Astrid announced.

"Oh, thank Thor." Hiccup sighed.

As soon as the dragons landed, the teens got off and started inspecting the island. Snotlout extended a hand to help Gothi, only to quickly retract it when the elderly reached, causing her to fall into the snow. The perfect revenge for drooling on his back the entire way there. "Oh! Yak hands. Oh, I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" The Jorgenson boy mocked, before laughing. He started walking away, before Gothi used her staff to trip him up. "Uhh! Fair enough."

Astrid smirked as she watched this scene. "You know, we should bring her along more often."

"I definitely wouldn't mind that." Raeda said, also smirking.

Gothi started looking around the Island, before shrugging at the others.

"Great, just great! She's got nothin'. Someone else is wearing that bag of bones home. She's all knees and elbows." Snotlout complained.

"Quit being rude, Snotlout." Hicca reprimanded, defending her mentor.

The cold wind continues to blast at the gang, as they tried to shield themselves from it.

"I can't believe not one of us thought of bringing warmer clothes. Considering we all knew we were going to _Glacier Island_." Raeda grumbled, rubbing her arms.

"Well hopefully we'll find that dragon soon." Hicca suggested, trying to stay optimistic. Secretly though, she was somewhat worry for Gothi. She was a bit worried for her mentor as she watched the women look around for any signs of the dragon. Something tells the Haddock girl that her mentor might do something crazy when they find the dragons, either try to protect them or to get revenge on the dragon, or maybe both.

"Can we please do something? My mouth is starting to freeze shut." Snotlout shivered.

"Don't get our hopes up." Astrid muttered, also shivering.

"Well, then we should work fast to find this Snow Wraith. Because we're not leaving until we do." Hiccup stated.

"Let's split up so we can cover more ground." Astrid suggested.

"Good idea. Dragon call if you come across anything." Hiccup instructed the others.

The group started to disperse. Snotlout looked around for any signs of Gothi. "Quick, Hookfang, before she sees us!" He whispered, only to turn and see Gothi sitting on his saddle. "Ah! Hi. I was just talking about you." ' _Why couldn't she just go with Hicca, instead?'_

"Hey, Hicca!" Raeda said to the auburn girl as they made their way to their dragons. "How about we team up to look for the Snow Wraith? I don't think I can concentrate enough in this cold to search on my own, even with Sparkfire."

"Sure." Hicca agreed.

As soon the riders got on, the dragons took to the sky and flew off in different directions. But what no one notice was the Snow Wraith in the distance, watching it's new guest very closely.

Back on Berk, Gobber was preparing for his first day as the temporary healer. "Hmm. Hmm. Okay, you got this, Gobber." The blonde man said to himself as he looked through the medicine cabinet. "Just follow the steps. Listen, diagnose, heal. Just like riding your first wild yak." He takes out a jar of medicine and sniffs it, before recoiling. "Ohh, you never forget that first kick." He trips and accidentally throws the jar out the window of Gothi's hut. There was shattering sound heard, followed by a man screaming a second later. "Ahh. I'll have to heal that later." He shrugged. "Ahem. Okay, first sick, nasty Viking, Doctor Gobber is in the house." A man hobbles in, struggling as one of his leg was caught in a dragon trap. (How was there still dragon traps at this time?) "Magnus, what seems to be the problem?"

"The problem?!" Magnus asked incredulously. Was Gobber seriously asking that. "My leg is caught in an old dragon trap, Gobber."

"Oh-oh, yes, of course it is." Gobber said, getting up. "Ah, I remember my first leg break." He pries open the trap, none too gently, much to Magnus' distress as the sound of a bone cracking was heard. "Let me clean up that wound for you." He takes out a jar of liquid medicine, not even bothering to figure out if it's the right one and pours it on the patients' leg.

"Aah! Aah, it burns! It burns!" Magnus cries out.

"Ah, that just means it's working." Gobber said calmly.

Magnus starts screaming more when his leg somehow catches on fire.

Gobber immediately ran to get a bucket of water to dose the fire. Unfortunately, he didn't get a good grip on the bucket as it fell out of his hands and hit Magnus in the head, knocking him out cold. "Cured." Gobber declared, dragging Magnus' unconscious body away. "Next."

Back on Glacier Island, the dragon riders regroup.

"Anybody find anything?" Hiccup asked.

"All we found was some scattered yak bones." Ruffnut reported.

"I-I didn't see anything, but I had this weird feeling that something was watching me." Fishlegs said.

"Oh, I had a weird feeling, too. Like this old lady was stuck on my back." Snotlout said, glaring at Gothi, who rested on his back.

"Aah! Two heads!" Tuffnut yelped, before he noticed Barf and Belch snarling at him, taking offense. "Oh, sorry, guys. I mean, on you two, it works. I've seen it before. I'm used to it."

"Hiccup, maybe we should get out of here. That looks like a huge storm." Astrid asked, as the storm continues to get more intense.

Hiccup looked at the group and noticed something. "Wait, where are Hicca and Raeda?"

That's when the rest of the group noticed that indeed the two girls, along with their dragons, were missing. Toothless gave a worried warble at the absence of his mate.

"We definitely can't leave without them." Hiccup stated. He wouldn't forgive himself if anything happened to either of the girls and their dragons, especially his twin. "We should dig in here and wait and see if they come here. If not, we'll go look for them. We also need to keep an eye out for the Snow Wraith. Remember, it likes to attack when you can't see it."

"Great. Just great." Fishlegs muttered, not liking their predicament one bit.

Meanwhile on Berk, Gobber continued on his new job with another patient. He was currently inspecting said patients' foot. "Mm-hmm. My official diagnosis is... a thorn."

"Yes, I told you that already!" The patient complained.

"Not to worry, I can remove it right quick." Gobber reassured, getting up.

"The thorn?" The patient asked with a hopeful expression.

"The foot." Gobber replied, looking through the tools. "Hmm, no. Uh, no. No. Aha!" He wields out an axe. "This was what my mother used to do for me." He turns around to see that the viking suddenly disappeared. "Some people just don't appreciate the practice of medicine."

On Glacier Island, Hicca, Raeda and their dragons land near a lake, with is frozen solid.

"You think we should head back to the others?" Hicca questioned.

"No idea. Lost track of time a while back." Raeda said, still rubbing her arms to get some warmth.

Sparkfire then blasted the ground creating a fire for her human to warm.

"Thanks girl." Raeda said in appreciation as she moved her hands over the fire. "Well here we are. Back on another adventure. Just like the good ol' days. I don't know about you, but I'm actually glad to come out of retirement as a Dragon Rider."

"Same here." Hicca agreed. "As much as I love studying to become a healer, it doesn't really bring that familiar rush you get when you're facing death-defying situations." The girls chuckled at that. "You know what would make this more complete. A reunion with the baby Night Furies." Midnight warbled in agreement, remembering her and Toothless' kids.

Before either girls can say anything else, they suddenly heard a loud dragon roar that didn't belong to their dragon or any dragon they knew. They looked up and saw the Snow Wraith glaring right at them!

"Looks like we found the dragon." Raeda said to Hicca, breaking eye-contact with the dragon.

"Yay, us." Hicca muttered, doing the same.

The rogue dragon blasted at them, but luckily Sparkfire and Midnight quickly swooped in and saved their riders just in time.

"Okay, we found this guy, now what?!" Raeda exclaimed.

"Give me a second for my mind to catch up!" Hicca said, as their dragons dodged some more blasts. "Dragon Roar! We need to call the others!" The two dragons wasted no time calling out back-up as they continued to dodge from the dragon. "We also need to get a tooth from the Snow Wraith for the Dragon Eye!"

"How do we do that?" Raeda asked.

"I have no idea." Hicca admitted. She was then taken by surprise as Midnight got thrown off by one of the blast and bumped into Sparkfire causing the four of them to hit the ground. The Snow Wraith was about to fire at them again, when it got hit by a plasma blast.

"Hold your ground and fire back!" Hiccup ordered the other teens as they flew into the rescue.

"Fire back where? We can't see it." Astrid pointed out.

Hiccup realised that the blonde shield maiden did have a point. "Actually, you know what? Take cover!" The dragons split up to avoid getting hit by the Snow Wraiths' blast. Hookfang, however, wasn't as lucky as his dragon companions as one of the blasts hit him, sending him and Snotlout to the ground, knocking Snotlout out of his saddle and into the snow.

The rogue dragon pursued its downed opponent, only to have difficulty in finding him because its' thermal vision shows Snotlouts' image blended into the background. The rogue dragon then used its' sense of smell to try to find the human.

"Toothless, warning shot." Toothless fired at the Snow Wraith, gaining its' attention. The other dragons then followed suit.

"Cease fire! Cease fire!" Hicca commanded. The dragons stopped firing and continued to avoid the blasts from the wild dragon. One of the blasts knocks Astrid off Stormfly and down a cliff. "Stormfly!" She called out. Immediately the blue Nadder swooped in and rescued her rider.

That was the last straw for Hiccup. "Alright, I've had just about enough of this dragon, bud. Do your thing." Using echolocation to navigate through the snow, Toothless flew up towards the Snow Wraith. "Toothless, now! Multiple blasts!" Toothless did just that, causing the Snow Wraith to fly away. "I think it's gone." Hiccup said, before they decided to land. "Everybody okay? Everybody here?"

"What do you mean by 'here'?" Ruffnut questioned.

"I have a question, Hiccup. What exactly is your plan to get a Snow Wraith tooth?" Snotlout demanded. "Take it out of one of our dead bodies?"

"If all goes well, it'll be Ruffnut's dead body." Tuffnut chimed in, sounding a little too hopeful. "And the Wraith tooth."

Hicca noticed her mentor scribbing something in the snow. "Hold on, quiet. Gothi wants to tell us something." After the elder was finished the auburn girl moved to translate. "She says we should've left when we had the chance."

A familiar roar was then heard in the distant.

Meanwhile, back on Berk, Gobbers' next patient, Agnar, was having stomach problems. Gobber was busy making the cure, while Agnar threw up in his helmet.

"Don't you worry, Agnar. I've seen her whip this stomach cure up a thousand times." Gobber reassured. Sure, Hicca banned him from making medicine, but this wasn't one of his own, this was one of Gothis' and he was merely recreating it. She didn't ban him from that. "One dab, eye of yak. Would that be one eye or a dab of an eye?" He contemplated and in doing so, he accidently knocks over a bottle of green liquid into cauldron. "Ah! Whoa." The new mixture gives out a new scent that causes Gobber to sneeze, _right into the cauldron_. He looked back to see if Agnar saw anything, but to his relief, Agnar didn't. He then whipped out a cup of his concoction and gave it to Agnar. "Drink this three times a day and come back and see me if it doesn't kill you." Agnar gasped at that. "I'm just kidding." He reassured before speaking in a low voice. "Hopefully."

Back on Glacier Island, the dragon riders plus Gothi and dragons, regrouped and recovered from the Snow Wraith attack in a nearby cave.

"Okay, that thing was gnarly." Snotlout commented.

"Astrid, are you okay?" Hiccup asked.

"Yep, barely." The Hofferson girl answered.

"Hicca? Raeda? What about you two?"

"Fine as well." Hicca answered.

"Great to be back." Raeda replied.

"Hiccup, you know I want a shot at this as badly as you and Hicca, but maybe we should get out of here." Fishlegs advised. "We're just sitting ducks in this storm."

Hiccup was about to argue, when something occurred to him. "W-Wait a minute. What did you just say?"

"He said we're sitting ducks. And for once, I agree with him." Snotlout said.

"Sitting ducks." Hiccup thought about it for a moment, before his eyes widened. "Yes, yes! Yes, that's exactly what we need to be."

"Excuse me?" Astrid questioned. What could be going through their co-leaders' mind now?

"What if we could make the Snow Wraith think it sees us when we're not here?" Hiccup riddled.

"You can make yourself invisible?" Tuffnut asked now intrigued. "Why does he get to do all the cool stuff? I just have to sit here with you as a sister." He gestured to his twin.

"Will you two be quiet for ten seconds?" The Jorgenson boy snapped.

"Tuff's not that far off." Hiccup stated. "Look, the Snow Wraith didn't have any trouble seeing us until Snotlout got buried in the snow. And Gothi said it couldn't find her when she fell into a snowbank."

Hicca realised what her brother was thinking. "It only found me, Raeda, Midnight and Sparkfire when we started a fire. It can see body heat the same way Midnight and Toothless can find things with sound."

"So what you guys are saying is that, what's saving us from this dragon is our low body heats?" Raeda questioned, not liking that theory.

"It's a mixed blessing, if you think of it." Ruffnut piped in.

"And we can use this to our advantage to confuse it. Then, while it's distracted, we'll net it and get that tooth." Hiccup inferred.

"And you're sure it will work?" Astrid questioned, feeling doubtful.

"Uhh…" Hiccup trailed off, looking at his twin for back-up.

The female Haddock simply shrugged. "I got nothing."

"Of course not." Astrid sighed rolling her eyes. Looks like some things never change.

"I hate both you. You know that?" Snotlout grumbled, glaring at the Haddock twins.

"Yes, we are aware of that. Alright, gang, let's get to work." Hiccup directed.

Soon, using the supplies they brought, the eight teens and one elderly were able to construct eight dummy versions of themselves.

"Pretty good." Hiccup commented, looking at the dummies. "Now, if Hicca and I are right, when we light these on fire, the Snow Wraith will think they're us and attack. Then we'll have the drop on it."

"Wait, wait, wait! Look at how realistically gorgeous my statue is. I can't in good conscience send that into flames." Snotlout protested. Suddenly the stitchings on the dummies neck fell apart, making Dummy-lout ( **Tee-hee** ) beheaded.

"I'll work through the pain and do it for you." Astrid said sarcastically.

Snotlout didn't get the sarcasm. "Wow, you'd do that for me, Astrid?

The teens, dragons and Gothi went to hide in the cave, before Hicca gave Midnight the command. "Alright girl, light 'em up." The female Night Fury did just that.

Snotlout took off his helmet and held it to his chest at the sight of Dummy-lout burning. "Somewhere in the world, a silent tear was just cried."

Some time passed and the Snow Wraith has yet to make an appearance.

"Hey, if the Snow Wraith doesn't come in the next ten minutes, can we warm up near the fires?" Raeda asked, staring longingly at the fires. "They look so tempting right now."

"Hiccup, I don't know if this-" Fishlegs started to say, before the Snow Wraith swoops in.

"Wait, look!" Hiccup interrupted, pointing at the Snow Wraith as it circles around the burning dummies. "Okay, next time it comes in, we go."

The Snow Wraith gave out a loud roar and starts to destroy Dummy-lout.

The human Jorgenson boy was not happy about this. "Oh, no, you did not!" Hookfang immediately lights himself up on in anger, which unfortunately started causing the cave to melt. Midnight and Toothless, having noticed the ice starting to fall from the ceiling of the cave, both rushed forward to protect their respective riders, getting themselves and their humans out of the cave just before the ice fell and trapped everyone else in the cave.

Inside the cave, the others tried to find a way out of the cave.

"Great job, Jorgenson. You did it this time." Raeda said drily.

Snotlout ignored her and continued to try to find a way out "Hookfang! Get over here now!"

Outside the cave, Toothless and Midnight unfolded their wings where it was revealed they kept their humans safe in their paws. "Thanks, guys." Hiccup said.

"Midnight, Toothless,, look out!" Hicca suddenly shouted, alerting the other three of the Snow Wraith swooping down on them. The two Night Furies shielded their riders as the wild dragon swooped pass them and disappeared into the snowstorm.

"If it can see our body heat, then we are way too easy a target out here." Hiccup said to the others, getting up. He walked over to the middle of the burning statues "This should even the odds a little."

Hicca and the two dragons joined him. "It won't be able to make us out within the heat of these fires." Hicca inferred.

"Exactly." Hiccup said, before turning to Toothless. "Do your thing, bud."

"Midnight, you know what to do, girl." Hicca said.

Both Night Furies started using echolocation to try to find the Snow Wraith, but strangely couldn't find it. But what no one in the group noticed was that the Snow Wraith could in fact see them, being careful to avoid getting sensed by the echolocation, and was flying right at them! The two Night Furies continued to search for the dragon with no luck until said dragon landed right behind them. That's when Hicca turned and noticed the Snow Wraith, right before Gothi, having also escaped the cave, sprung up and attack the rogue dragon.

"Gothi, no!" Hicca yelled, but it fell on deaf ears as the elder was determined to get revenge on the Snow Wraith for the past encounter as she continued to hit it with her staff. But the Snow Wraith was deterred as it grabbed her by the staff and lifted her up.

"Toothless, plasma blast! And careful not to hit the crazy little woman with the staff." Hiccup ordered.

"Hiccup!" His twin reprimanded.

Toothless fired several plasma blast at the Snow Wraith, causing it to drop Gothi. It then moved to attack Toothless, when it got deterred by a fireball and it hit the ground.

"Oh, yeah, that's right. Snotlout got us out of the snow." Snotlout hollered in triumph as he and the others joined the group, having managed to escape the cave.

"Yeah, and you're also the one that got us buried in it to begin with." Astrid reminded him, unimpressed.

"Ah, details." Snotlout countered, waving it off.

"Okay, we have him surrounded. Let's get that tooth." Hiccup said. Unfortunately, the Snow Wraith recovered and flew off and disappeared into the storm, before anyone could think of catching up to him. "No! We can't lose him."

"Actually, _he_ lost _us_." Tuffnut commented.

"Hiccup, we should get out of here while we can." Astrid advised.

"Maybe we can try again later." Hicca suggested.

"Yes, please." Raeda agreed.

"Not yet. This isn't over." Hiccup said, still determined to get the tooth. Gothi tapped his shoulder, trying to get his attention. "Not now, Gothi. Gang, we came here for a Snow Wraith tooth and-" Gothi continued to tap his shoulder. "I-I said in a minute, Gothi."

Fortunately, Hicca caught on to what her mentor was trying to say. "We can definitely go home, now." She said interrupting her brother.

"And why is that, sis? Didn't you just hear me?" Hiccup questioned.

Hicca simply pointed to Gothis' staff which has a Snow Wraith tooth embedded in it.

"Oh."

When they finally reached Berk, Gothi and Hicca were met with a lot of Gobber's patients'. There they learned just how the temporary healer did his job. It took a long time, but both mentor and apprentice were able to fix Gobbers' mistakes and properly cure the patients. Hicca slumped down with the group, clearly exhausted.

"You okay, Hicca?" Raeda asked.

"I'm fine actually." Hicca said, smiling even though she had a really long day. "You would think that this was nothing but exhausting work for me, but actually it was great practice into a normal busy day as a healer."

"I'm glad you took something positive out of that, sis." Hiccup said. "But tonight you should definitely sleep early, right after dinner."

"Well, I'm really glad to be a help in your healer training, Hicca." Gobber piped in.

Hicca then remembered something. "Hey, Gobber, remember the time I banned you from making your own medicine?"

"Yes."

"I'm changing that. From now on, not only are you not allowed to make medicine, but you are also not allowed to be a healer, at least not without me or Gothi to supervise. Sorry Gobber, but we have to think of the good of the patients."

Gobber's shoulders slumped at that. Hicca and Goth were over-reacting, he wasn't that bad. ' _Speaking of bans'_ Gobber thought to himself. ' _Note to self: don't tell Hicca about that potion you made for Agnar'_

"So, Gobber, other than that, how was it being Gothi?" Hiccup asked.

"Well, I didn't get to wallop anybody with my staff, but-"

"Gobber! Gobber!" Agnar called out running into the hut. "I must have more of that potion you made me earlier."

"What potion?" Hicca asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Heh, heh." Gobber gave a nervous laugh, before turning to Agnar. "So, it cured your stomach ailments, did it?"

Agnar responded by throwing up on the ground, much to the others disgust. "Far from it! But it cured something else. It's made my hair grow back!" He took off his helmet to show a single strand growing on his bald head.

"Congrats, Agnar. You look so…" Snotlout tried to compliment before Agnar threw up again. " _.._.good."

"Well, at least you got only one of the side effects." Agnar breaks wind, making the others cringed in disgust of the smell.

"Ugh…" Hiccup coughed. "Well, Gobber, just whip up some more of that potion for him."

There was one problem with that though, Gobber forgot what was in the potion. "Uh, well, it was very complicated, and I'm retired. Gothi, why don't you take this one?" The Elder responded by whacking the blonde man with the staff, before leading Agnar to a different room.

"You really have no idea what was in that potion, do you?" Hiccup questioned.

"No, not a drop." Gobber answered, before handing over the tooth he removed from the staff. "But here's your key."

Hiccup takes the tooth and fits it in the key-hole. Strangely, nothing happens.

"We almost died... for that?!" Snotlout questioned, not happy at the fact.

"No, there's gotta be more to it than this." Hiccup said, inspecting the Dragon Eye. "It just doesn't make any sense."

"Welcome to my world, sister." Tuffnut said, still rubbing his teeth for some reason. "Nothing makes sense and you got itchy teeth."

The rest of the day went by and there was still no luck in deciphering the Dragon Eye. Night time came and Hiccup and Toothless were the only ones who were still up in Hiccups' room trying to make sense of the new object. Hicca would've stayed up with if it wasn't for the long day she had in getting the Snow Wraiths' tooth and re-treating the Gobbers' patients with Gothi.

Hiccup yawned for the twenty-fifth time before he decided to call it quits. "Alright. That's it, I'm calling it a night. Maybe tomorrow. Fresh eyes."

Toothless happily complied, already dozing off. The Night Fury wasted no time going to his stone slab and blasting it to keep it warm. Hiccup was about to lie down on his bed, when he suddenly notice something strange. "Toothless, come here. Do that again, bud. Give me a low flame." As instructed, Toothless walks close towards the Dragon Eye and breathes in a low flame right in front of one end of the Dragon Eye. To Hiccups' amazement, the flame caused the Dragon Eye to give a projection of a map on the wall.

"Whoa. This changes... everything."


	3. Imperfect Harmony

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything from How to train your dragon**

 **Chapter 3: Imperfect Harmony**

After the discovery, Hiccup and Toothless wasted no time waking up the other dragon riders and gathering them in the Great Hall.

"Okay bud, go ahead." Hiccup said, after he set up the Dragon Eye. Just as before, Toothless gave a low heat at the eye of the object, causing a projection at the wall.

The other teens, who were rubbing their eyes before, were now fully alert at what they saw.

"Woah!" Astrid and Hicca breathed out.

"Amazing!" Snotlout said in awe.

"Beautiful!" Raeda said.

"Woah!" Ruffnut said.

"Cool!" Tuffnut exclaimed.

"Definitely worth getting up for." Fishlegs commented.

"Fishlegs, can you make any of it out?" Hiccup asked.

Fishlegs stepped closer to observe the symbols of the wall. "The're parts of maps and symbols. Nothing I've seen before and there is writing but it is in a language I've never read before." He replied.

One of the symbols caught Snotlouts' attention. "What's that thing?"

"That must be some kind of tribal crest or something." Hiccup inferred.

Hicca took a closer look at the symbol. "That crest, I feel like I've seen it before. But I can't place my finger on it."

"Ooh, I like that way better than our tribal crest." Tuffnut said.

"Tuff, we don't have a tribal crest." Raeda pointed out.

"Well we should." Ruffnut stated.

"Yeah, and it should be that." Tuffnut said, pointing to the crest.

"We can't use this if another tribe already has it." Hicca said.

Fishlegs looked at the map on the wall and noticed something. "Hiccup, Hicca, this map. You two realize it-"

"Goes beyond the boundaries of the archipelago." Hiccup finished. "Oh I know."

"So what's our next move?" Astrid asked

The next move was to attend the council meeting the next day, show them this discovery and discuss the course of actions accordingly.

"Look at this." Hiccup said, showing the council the projection. "There are maps we have never seen, writing we can't read, dragons that we don't recognize. It's incredible."

"This Dragon Eye, this is proof that there is a whole other world down there, a world that must be explored." Hicca finished.

"This sure beats normal council business." Gobber commented, while the other adults didn't say anything.

"It's alright lads, you can speak your mind. We're a council after all, that's why we're here." Stoick reassured.

"We've been at peace for three years, best years on Berk I can remember. I think you know as well as I do, when you go looking for trouble, you usually find it." Spitelout stated.

"I'm with Spitelout, if that Dragon Eye leads to unknown places and new wild dragons then no good will come from any of that." Sven agreed.

"I completely disagree, Sven. Look around you. How-how can you say that no good can come from discovering new species of dragons." Hiccup argued, gesturing to the dragons. "No if they're out there, we have to find them."

"If there is anything you and the other riders should be doing is hunting down Dagur and putting him back in jail, where he belongs." The older Jorgenson pointed out.

"Another reason to go. Dagur was heading beyond our borders. He thinks we won't go past them. But that's where we'll find him." Hicca countered.

"Stoick, anytime you like to chime in, we can put this thing to rest." Spitelout asked, turning to the chief.

"You're right Spitelout, let's put this to rest." Stoick agreed.

"Dad-" Hiccup started to say before he was interrupted.

"Let me speak son, this is as important for you to hear as it is for them." His dad said. "Spitelout, you're absolutely right. These have been some of our best years. Nothing is more important than peace, peace among us, peace with our neighbors."

Hiccup and Hicca sighed, waiting for the defeat to set in.

"And peace with our dragons." Stoick continued. "Having said that, Let me ask you this Spitelout, when you and I first had Alvin in our sights and everyone was trying to tell us to leave well enough alone, what did we do?"

"Crush them, that's what you did!" Gobber exclaimed, slamming his prosthetic on the table.

"Thank you Gobber." Stoick sighed, rolling his eyes.

"My pleasure chief." Gobber replied.

"When Valka was taken, and I went in search for her, could anyone have stopped me?" The chief reminded them.

"Well, technically you're the chief so no." Gobber pointed out.

"Yes Gobber, fair point, but you know where I'm going." Stoick said. "Think of the most important thing in the world to each of you. Ask your selves honestly, how far would you be willing to go to get it, what would you risk. The kids life has been dragons. They're lives are dragons. And will continue to be. We can't stop them from going if we wanted to. So we might as well support them." He then turned to his kids. "Go kids, find whatever it is out there that's pulling on you. You find it, Berk will be right here waiting for you." He finished putting one hand on each twins' shoulder, earning a smile from both kids.

"You best get out of here before all this nostalgia wears of and he changes his mind." Gobber advised.

The Haddock twins whistled to their dragons and started walking out of the Great Hall. The two Night Furies went to follow them, but were stopped by the chief.

"You two take care of my kids dragons." Was all he said, earning two identical nods.

They made the announcement to the others and then split up to gather the resources they needed.

Once Hicca got her provisions, she and Midnight went to the Academy to check up on their newest guests; Henry and his five dragons Wildstar, Scout, Sandtrapper, Sandstorm and Lockjaw.

"Hey Henry." Hicca greeted walking into the Academy.

The boy looked up, surprised to see her here, though he really shouldn't be. Out of everyone on this island, she and her dragon were the ones who visited them the most. Actually those two were the only ones who actually visited him. The other Berkians soon figured that Henry preferred to be a loner, except when he was with his dragons, so they just decided to let them be and continue with their lives. Anyone who does stop by only does because they needed something from the Academy. Hicca, however, always checks on them at least once a day, asking if they were alright, if they needed anything, checking on Wildstars' wounds. Henry has grown quite use to seeing the Haddock girl everyday, and his dragons were okay with it. It surprised him because she doesn't usually come at this time of day.

"Hey, Hicca." He greeted back. "Let me guess, here to check on Wildstar?

"Yep, just wanted to make sure there was no change in her health." She said. 'And to see you.' She mentally added being careful not to say that out loud. She didn't know why, but there was something about this strange guy that made her want to look out for him and his dragons.

"No change. She should be recovering soon." He stated, patting Scout.

"That's good." Hicca noted, nodding her head. "Actually I also came to tell you that if there is any change in her health later on, you should take her to Gothi. I already gave you the directions to her hut."

Henry raised an eyebrow to this. "Why? Where are you going to be?"

"My brother, friends and I are going to be doing some exploring. We found this map that can take us to territories we didn't even know existed. We don't know how long it we will be out for. There is a good chance you might leave before we come back."

"Oh." Was all Henry said as he processed this information.

There was an awkward silence as neither of them really knew what to say next.

"Okay then." Hicca said, knowing that Henry wasn't one for conversations. "If there's nothing else, then I'll-"

"Wait." Henry suddenly said. "Thanks. For the welcome." Although it was short, he meant every word. He really didn't expect an island to be as hospitable to him and his dragons as Berk was but found that it was a nice change, even though he wasn't anywhere near ready to be fast friends with its' inhabitants. The best temporary home he's had in awhile.

"Oh, no problem." Hicca reassured. "If you don't mind me asking, where are you guys planning to go once Wildstar heals?"

"Here and there." Henry answered shrugging. Friendly or not, he always has to be careful with what information he gives to others. After all, word can travel in the Archipelago.

Hicca looked at him for a second and was about to say something else, when Fishlegs called from the entrance of the Academy. "Hicca! Are you ready? We're going to leave!"

"Well that's my cue." Hicca said, walking to Midnight. "But, um, in case we don't come back in time, goodbye and good luck with you future travels. And if you or any of your dragons get hurt again, you now know a good place to go to."

"I'll keep that in mind." Henry said, as he watched Hicca and her dragon leave to join their friends.

As soon as they regrouped, the Dragon Riders flew off to their destination. The map from the Dragon Eye led them to a very foggy path.

"You ready for this." Hiccup asked the others

"Blah, Blah, Blah. Why do you have to make a production out of everything?" Snotlout interrupted. "Let's just go already."

"Okay, but if anyone has any reservation-" But the others took off into the fog before he could finish, leaving just Hicca, Raeda and Hiccup behind with their dragons.

"Into the great beyond!" Snotlout exclaimed.

"The Great beyond!" Astrid, Ruffnut, Tuffnut and Fishlegs chanted.

"Doesn't look there are any reservations." Raeda commented.

"Yeah, they all seem ready." Hicca said, shaking her head in amusement.

"Okay, then. Let's go guys." Hiccup said.

So the Dragon Riders started their journey out on a high, keeping a sharp eye out for anything out of the Archipelago, with the Thorston twins continuously shouting 'Great Beyond'. However, several hours later and still unable to find anything, with the fog appearing to be endless, the excitement vanished and was replaced with exhaustion, both from humans and dragons, while the blonde twins continued to mutter 'Great Beyond'.

Hiccup looked behind him and noticed the others in this state. "Oh, come on, you guys. So we had a couple of tough hours. Nothing that's worth anything comes easy."

"Is that one of your riddles." Tuffnut questioned, tiredly. "Cause now is not the time my friends, we have to keep saying great beyond. Great Beyond."

"Great beyond." Ruffnut repeatedly boredly.

Hiccup sighed at that and looked at his twin for back-up, only to find her busy reading one of her medical books she brought along.

"Really, sis?" Hiccup questioned.

"Sorry, can't slack off on my studies." Hicca apologised, still reading.

"It seems the farther we go in, the worse it gets." Astrid observed..

"Hiccup, I think we should turn back." Fishlegs advised. "We've been flying for most of the day."

"We're just going to fly the same distance we came. It's too much on the dragons if we do that." Raeda argued.

"We just have to keep moving forward until we're out of this." Hiccup said

Astrid looked ahead of her and noticed it was much brighter up ahead. "Hiccup, Hicca, is that…"

The Haddock twins looked ahead and found what the blonde girl saw. "Yeah it is." Hiccup nodded. "Everybody, fly for the light."

With renewed strength, the dragon riders got their dragons to fly in the direction of the light, finally getting out of the fog and into a completely unknown territory.

"Look at this." Astrid said, as she and the others gazed around their surroundings in awe.

"Wow." Raeda breathed out.

"It's incredible." Hiccup agreed.

"I know right. We made it Hiccup. We made it." Astrid exclaimed excitedly, no longer feeling tired.

"Guys, can we slap each other on the backs later. Meatlug's wings are about to fall of." Fishlegs pointed out, gesturing to the poor Gronckle. The other dragons were feeling the same.

"Sorry guys." Hiccup apologised, looking ahead for an island. "There's a place up ahead we can settle down."

Suddenly the dragons flew off to a different direction, to another island. "Woah what is it girl? Don't you wanna rest?" Fishlegs questioned, but the Gronckle ignored him in favor of flying to the new island.

Suddenly there was a strange sound. "Guys do you hear that?" Hiccup asked the others.

"What is that?" Snotlout wondered.

"I have no idea but the dragons are definitely pulled towards it." Fishlegs observed, looking at the other dragons.

"I guess, that's where we're going." Hicca decided.

They all landed and took in their new surroundings. "This place is amazing!" Raeda said in awe.

"Okay, I'm never going back to Berk." Snotlout declared.

"Berk. What's that? Cause I forgot." Tuffnut said.

"I guess we don't have to vote on where we're making camp." Hiccup commented.

"Haha. I'll take care of the fire." Snotlout claimed, taking out a jar of green gel and pours it into the ground. "Hookfang, Light it up." He commanded. His dragon blasted at the gel, making a campfire. "Monstrous Nightmare gel. Don't leave home without it." Snotlout explained to the others.

With that, the teens continued to set up camp while the dragons got some much needed rest. Soon night-time came and everyone, except for Astrid and Hiccup, were fast asleep.

Astrid joined the Haddock boy by the shore. "You were right Hiccup. There's so much more out here and it's beautiful." She said, smiling at him.

"And this is only the beginning Astrid. Who knows what we'll find out here." Hiccup agreed, as he and Astrid looked out into the sea.

They fell asleep on the their spots and soon morning came. Hiccup was the first of the two to wake and started stretching. He then paused when he noticed something amiss.

"Astrid, wake up. Do you hear that?" He asked, shaking the blonde girl up.

Astrid slowly came back into consciousness. "What, I don't hear anything." She said, yawning.

"Exactly, the sound is gone." Hiccup pointed out.

"So are the dragons. All of them, gone!" Fishlegs announced joining the duo.

Astrid was suddenly jolted awake. "Stormfly." She and Hiccup joined the other teens, who were already awake, in searching for their dragons. Astrid paused in her search though, when she noticed Ruffnut and Tuffnut searching behind the same rock repeatedly. "How many times are you gonna check behind that rock? Barf and Belch cannot hide behind there."

"Clearly, you are not aware of the stealthiness of one Barf and Belch." Ruffnut countered. "Or is that two Barf and Belch?"

Tuffnut thought about that question. "Hmm, excellent question. Two heads…"

"One dragon." Ruffnut continued.

"Two brains…" Tuffnut started.

"One body." Ruffnut finished.

"Two bodies, half a brain." Snotlout joked, walking pass them. "Ha ha."

"Nothing, I don't get it. Where would they go?" Hiccup questioned.

"And I don't think they were kidnapped, because there are no marks in the sand." Raeda noted.

"Oh my Meatlug. She wouldn't do this. She would never leave me. She would never do this on her own." Fishlegs said, worriedly.

Suddenly the teens noticed some rustling from the nearby bushes. They braced themselves for whatever it could be when Toothless suddenly jumped out and darted straight to Hiccup.

"Ha ha, There you are bud." Hiccup said in relief. "Where did you go?"

"And where's Midnight and the others." Hicca said, starting to get worried as the two Night Furies don't usually separate if they're not with their riders. But Toothless seemed to be frantic, panicking for some reason as he tried to pull and push Hiccup.

"Okay, I think your dragon ate something weird in the forest because he's out of his mind." Snotlout commented.

No no no no no, I think he's trying to tell us something." Fishlegs inferred.

"W-what is it bud. Is it the other dragons?" Hiccup asked, trying to calm his dragon down.

Toothless responded by grabbing Hiccups' leg and running off as fast as he can.

"How far do you think he's gonna get before he realizes?" Astrid questioned.

"Hard to say, he seemed pretty committed." Hiccup replied, sitting up from the ground.

At a distance, Toothless finally stopped and looked at what he had in his mouth, which turned out to be Hiccup's prosthetic leg! Oops….

He then went back to the group dropping the leg looking very sheepish and apologetic. "It's okay bud, I like the enthusiasm." Hiccup reassured as he put the prosthetic back on. He then got on the saddle and turned to the others. "You guys stay here in case they come back. Toothless and I are gonna look for them from above."

"I'm coming with you." Hicca declared, sitting behind her brother on the saddle before he can say anything. Hiccup decided to allow that and Toothless then took off. Just as they were going to put some distance in their flight, Hicca looked back down at the others and her eyes widened at what she saw.

"Oh no! Hiccup! Toothless!" She called, getting the guys' attention. They looked at her as she pointed down to the others, who were getting attacked by a Thunderdrum!

"Oh Thor, Oh Thor. Thunderdrum!" Fishlegs hyperventilated from below. The Thunderdrum let out a sonic roar, causing the teens on ground to cover their ears. It then prepared to strike when suddenly it got hit by multiple plasma blasts, causing it to fly away.

"Good job bud." Hiccup praised as they landed back down. "Let's hope that's the last we see of this guy."

"ANYTHING ELSE YOU GUYS WANNA DRAW TOWARDS US?" Snotlout demanded, yelling at the top of his voice. "CHANGEWINGS, OHH SCREAMING DEATH MAYBE. I'M SURE THERE ONE OF THOSE AROUND HERE."

"Snotlout, you're yelling very loudly." Hicca said loud enough.

"OH REALLY, I CAN BARELY MYSELF BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU GET ATTACKED BY A WILD THUNDER DRUM!" He retorted

"Okay, we need our dragons." Hiccup said. "Hicca and i are gonna go back out there." He informed the others, only to receive blank looks because they couldn't hear him. "I'm saying WE'RE GOING BACK OUT THERE!" He yelled, making Toothless and Hicca winced.

This caused the others to protest _very loudly_.

"NO YOU'RE NOT, I WILL TAKE YOUR OTHER LEG!" Snotlout shouted.

"NO WAY GUYS. YOU ARE NOT LEAVING US ALONE!" Astrid objected.

"LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENED TO US BECAUSE OF THE THUNDERDRUM!" Raeda pointed out.

"WE'RE DRAGONLESS AND DEFENSELESS!" Fishlegs shouted.

"AND WE CAN ONLY COMMUNICATE BY YELLING!" Ruffnut shouted.

"WHICH ALTHOUGH QUITE ENJOYABLE IS NOT VERY STEALTHY!" Tuffnut hollered. "ARE EITHER OF YOU HEARING ANY OF THIS?"

"They're right, bro. We just left for them for a few seconds and they already got attacked by the Thunderdrum." Hicca pointed out.

"Okay, fine we'll all go together." Hiccup conceded, but the others once again couldn't hear him. "Oh for.. I SAID WE'LL ALL GO TOGETHER!"

The others nodded in approval of the plan. "Why didn't you just say so. Jeez." Tuffnut said in a normal voice.

As they ventured out into the forest Snotlout, Fishlegs, Astrid, Raeda and the Thorston twins soon got their hearing back, much to the relief of the Haddock twins and the male Night Fury. The further they went into the forest the more eerie the atmosphere became.

"Uh Hiccup, Hicca…" Fishlegs started to say.

"We know Fishlegs." Hiccup said.

"No longer amazing." Hicca finished.

"Can we get a vote for creepy and weird?" Snotlout asked.

"For once, Snotlout. I agree with you." Raeda said.

They then reached a clearing in the forest where they gasped at what they saw.

"Are those what I think there are?" Fishlegs asked, horrified.

"Weirdly shaped white rocks." Tuffnut guessed.

"Dragon bones." Hiccup answered grimly.

"Ah a boneyard, yes I like it." Tuffnut said enthusiastically, before the others gave him looks. "I don't like it."

Astrid noticed that some of the bones were covered in a transparent, amber-colored shell. "What is this stuff?"

"No idea." Hicca answered.

The group then heard a wailing noise in the distance.

"Okay, what was that?" Snotlout asked, getting creeped out.

"That my friend is a dragon in trouble." Fishlegs answered also getting worried.

"Guys, look." Raeda said, getting further from the group. The others joined her to find that there were dragons who were still alive, but weak and trapped in the strange amber cocoon.

"You guys do know what's going on here, Don't you?" Tuffnut asked.

"Yeah, Something is trapping the dragons in its amber rock substance and immobilizing them." Fishlegs stated.

"Oh, I had a completely different idea which involved oily fish and uh, bad mutton." Tuffnut admitted.

"Please do not explain what that idea was." Raeda said.

Hicca continued Fishlegs thoughts. "Then it's breaking them out and eating them."

Ruffnut scoffed at that. "Oh come on, Who would be doing that?"

Suddenly a huge dragon swooped down, causing the group to immediately take cover behind some nearby boulders. Well almost everyone.

"How about that guy? He looks suspect to me." Ruffnut said, rather loudly. Fishlegs immediately pulled her back to the boulder.

The strange new dragon emitted the same sound the dragon riders heard earlier, causing Toothless to move towards the sound. "No no Toothless, no bud." Hiccup pleaded, trying to stop his dragon. "It's the sound. that's what draws the dragons in."

"Songwing." Fishlegs blurted out.

"What?" Astrid questioned.

"That's what we should name it." The Ingerman boy explained.

"Now? Really? You want to name it now?" Hiccup asked in disbelief.

"We need to call it something." Fishlegs defended.

"You know, that name makes the dragon seem less threatening than it actually is." Raeda commented.

"Yeah, I'm thinking Deathsong might be more appropriate." Tuffnut chimed in. "You know, 'cause you hear the song, you're dead."

"That's not bad." Raeda commented.

"Yeah, he makes a pretty good point." Hiccup agreed, despite the situation.

"Yeah, I do." Tuffnut nodded, before getting confused. "Wait, what was it again?"

"It doesn't matter what we call it. If it's doing it to all these dragons, then it probably did it to ours." Astrid pointed out.

"We have to find them." Fishlegs urged.

"Fast." Hicca agreed.

As soon as the Deathsong disappeared, the teens immediately split up and started calling out to their dragons.

"Snotlout, look!" Astrid called, getting the Jorgenson boys' attention. He looked and saw her pointing to his Monstrous Nightmare, who was trapped in an amber cocoon.

"Hooky!" Snotlout exclaimed, running to his dragon. "I am getting you out of there, Fangster."

"Astrid, I've got Stormfly!" Fishlegs called, pointing to the blue Nadder, also trapped in a cocoon.

"Midnight!" Hicca exclaimed as she and Toothless ran to the female Night Fury who was also trapped.

A roar interrupted them as the Deathsong came back. Angry at the dragon for trapping his mate, Toothless ran to confront it.

"Toothless! No!" Hiccup warned, echoed by Midnights' own warnings.

Toothless was ready to face the dragon, when it shot out the amber substance, trapping Toothless as well.

"No!" Hiccup exclaimed, running to his dragons. "You guys, get your dragons free now!"

Immediately, the gang tries to free their dragons, but no luck. The cocoon was as hard as a rock. The Deathsong then changed its' target to the teens and started shooting at them, successfully trapping Raeda, Fishlegs, Snotlout, Ruffnut and Tuffnut.

"Wha... I can't move! I'm totally stuck!" Fishlegs yelled struggling.

"Me too." Raeda gritted out, also trying

"Same here. I can't believe that thing got me. I'm usually so limber." Snotlout grumbled.

"Yeah? Well, at least you got your own cocoon." Tuffnut complained, having been trapped in the same cocoon as his twin.

"Oh, yeah, like this is a picnic for me." Ruffnut said sarcastically.

Getting another idea, Hicca slowly approached the dragon.

"Sis, what are you doing? Get out of there!" Hiccup demanded as he watched the dragon sniff his sister with suspicion.

"It's still a dragon, Hiccup. Maybe we can try to befriend it." Hicca suggested, slowly putting her hand on the Deathsongs' snout. But the dragon responded by trapping her in a cocoon as well! "Okay, not a social dragon."

"Hicca!" Hiccup yelled, running to her.

Astrid noticed the Deathsong setting its' sights on the Haddock boy. She couldn't let that happen. "Hiccup, it's coming for you!" She immediately rushed to him and shoved him out the way, just in time to take the hit, trapping her along with the others.

"Astrid!" Hiccup exclaimed. But he didn't have time to try and help her as the Deathsong decided to take another chance of getting him.

"Hiccup, run! If the Deathsong gets you too, there will no one left to help us." Raeda urged.

As much as he hated the idea of abandoning his twin and friends, Hiccup knew the raven-haired girl was right and immediately ran away, with the Deathsong flying right after him. As he runs, he falls into a steep slope of a valley, which saves him from the Deathsong, but puts him face to face with the Thunderdrum from before.

"Oh, hey." Hiccup chuckled nervously, because _of course_ he would have to end up in this kiind of situation. "Remember me?" The Thunderdrum roared, clearly remembering him. "Okay, so, yeah, I'm thinking... we may have gotten off on the wrong foot." The dragon then let out a sonic blast. Thankfully, Hiccup was able to deflect it with his shield. "Note for the Book of Dragons: Thunderdrums carry a grudge."

The dragon then charges at him, knocking him away from the amber substance that was suddenly shot at him. The Deathsong then appears and the two dragons face off.

"Don't worry, I got your back." Hiccup reassured the Thunderdrum. He used his shield to fire a bola at the Deathsongs' mouth, successfully clamping it shut. "That's not gonna hold him for long." Hiccup noted as he watched the Deathsong struggle. He then turned to his new ally. "Okay, uh... you might not like what I'm about to do, but trust me, it's gonna work out for both of us." He quickly jumps on the Thunderdrums' back. Startled and not accustomed to the concept of having a human rider, the Thunderdrum takes off and starts spinning madly, trying to shake Hiccup off.

"Whoa. Haven't we been over this?" Hiccup exclaimed, struggling to hold on as the Thunderdrum continues to spin. "I said I'm trying to help the both of us. Don't you listen? Of course you don't listen, you're a Thunderdrum, and Thunderdrums are hard of hearing." The Thunderdrum then plunges to the ground, causing Hiccup to lose his grip and hit the ground. "Aaaah! Uhh!" He grunts as he gets up. "At least we lost the Deathsong." This made Hiccup realised that maybe the Deathsong went back after the others! "Oh, no, I can't believe this is actually happening. I should've left all those guys back on Berk. Now they're cocooned in that crazy rock stuff, I'm being chased by an angry Deathsong, and I'm stuck here with a wild Thunderdrum who can't hear a word I'm saying." His eyes widened as he thought the last part over. "Wait a second. If you guys can hardly hear a thing, then you probably can't hear the Deathsong's call. And if you can't hear the Deathsong, then it can't lure you in. No wonder you haven't been caught and you're all alone." The Thunderdrum roars as Hiccup gets up and approaches the dragon. "You know what, Mr. Thunderdrum? You're gonna help me get my friends back. And I'm gonna make sure that dragon never bothers you again. What do you say?" He reaches out a hand to the dragons' snout and it accepts, creating a bond between boy and dragon.

Meanwhile the others were still struggling to break free from their amber prison.

"Uhh! Uhh! Where's Hiccup?! I knew he'd leave us! I have to pee." Snotlout said.

"That's too much information, Snotlout." Raeda stated annoyed.

"And he didn't leave us. He'll be back." Astrid argued. "If I could just reach my knife."

"It wouldn't matter, Astrid. Whatever this is, it's really strong." Fishlegs informed the Hofferson girl as he once again tried to move. "Uhh! I don't think we can cut through it."

"If we can't cut it, then how do we get out of here?" Snotlout asked.

"Yeah, you can't tell me that my last breath is gonna be inhaling her stinky fish hair." Tuffnut, who was trapped below his sister in their cocoon, wheezed out.

"Oh, yeah, that's real original." Ruffnut retorted, rolling her eyes. "You know what? I hope it eats you first. At least I'll have something cool to watch before I die."

"You just stay on your side of the cocoon, missy." Her twin argued. Suddenly, their cocoon got rammed at from the back, causing them to tumble to the ground. "Whoa! Whoa! What's going on? Do it again!"

"Okay, so that's a negative on plan A... ramming the cocoon open." Hiccup said to the Thunderdrum.

"Please tell me you have a plan B." Astrid pleaded.

"If it involves cutting, ramming or ripping, you might as well forget it, Hiccup. Once it cools down, this stuff is hard as any rock I've ever seen." Fishlegs stated.

"Cools down?" Hiccup repeated.

"And hardens." Hicca added.

This gave Hiccup an idea. "Hmm. Nobody move."

"Did you seriously tell us not to _move_?" Raeda questioned.

"Oh, yeah, that's funny. A real comedian." Tuffnut said sarcastically.

Hiccup goes to Hookfang and grabs the Monstrous Nightmare gel from the saddle bag. He then starts pouring some of the gel on Snotlout and Hookfang.

"What are you doing, Hiccup?" Snotlout demanded, not liking where this is going.

"Just trust me, Snotlout." Hiccup reassured.

"Says the man who's about to set me on fire?"

"You said it only stings a little." Hicca pointed out.

"I was lying. You know I'm a liar!" The dark haired boy exclaimed.

"It'll be okay, Snotlout, I promise." Hiccup promised. He was about to go and pour the gel on the others when the Deathsong came back. It looked at its' prisoners, as if trying to choose. It started eyeing Fishlegs, who decided to play dead in a fit of panic. The Deathsong picked up another cased dragon and flew away.

Hicca closed her eyes, not wanting to think of what was going to happen to that poor dragon.

"Aah! Hurry up, Hiccup! He just took the appetizer. I think I'm the main course." Fishlegs urged.

"Fishlegs, relax. It could take hours for him to eat that dragon." Astrid tried to reassure.

But contrary to her statement, the Deathsong suddenly comes back.

"Or minutes!" Fishlegs yelped. The rogue dragon then approaches the Ingerman boy, appearing to study him for a moment. "Hi, sir." Fishlegs said nervously, in a really high tone.

Hiccup and the Thunderdrum then confronts the Deathsong, getting its' attention. "Hey, remember us?! Hiccup called out to the Deathsong, getting its' attention away from Fishlegs. The dragon chased after the duo, while Hiccup made sure to pour the gel on the others, making sure to only get it on the cocoon. He then runs his dagger across the gel, the friction between the blade and the ground caused a spark which ignited the gel, spreading the fire. True to Hiccups' theory, the fire started to cause the cocoon to melt.

"Aah! Yes! It's working!" Astrid exclaimed, as she and her friends were released from their amber prisons. They quickly reunited with their dragons.

"Hey, bud, good to see you." Hiccup said, as he got lick by said male Night Fury.

As the riders got ready to confront the Deathsong with the Thunderdrum, Hiccup and Hicca noticed an adolescent Thunderdrum also stuck in the amber. They quickly put two and two together.

"It's an adolescent Thunderdrum." Hicca informed the others.

"No wonder he stuck around." Hiccup said, referring to the older Thunderdrum. "Snotlout, you get the Thunderdrum. Hicca and I will handle the Deathsong. You ready, sis?"

"Do you have to ask?" Hicca questioned. "Let's relocate this guy."

Toothless and Midnight quickly race off into a nearby cave, with the Deathsong behind them. The Night Furies were able to zoom through the tunnel with ease, but their chaser had difficulties due to its' size. It ended up crashing into a wall.

"Okay, guys, get us out of here." Hiccup ordered. The two Night Furies quickly used echolocation to navigate their way out, leaving the Deathsong trapped in the cave.

"Yeah! Nice going, guys!" Hicca praised. "No one's gonna hear his song in there."

As they trapped the Deathsong, Snotlout was able to free the adolescent Thunderdrum, allowing it to reunite with the older Thunderdrum.

"If I were you two, I'd maybe find another island. I don't know how long that's gonna hold." Hiccup advised his new friends.

"Uh, you know they can't hear you, right?" Tuffnut questioned.

"Yes, Tuff, I know." Hiccup sighed, rolling his eyes. "Let's get out of here." As they flew far away from the island as possible, Hiccup turned to the others. "Hey, gang, I just wanted to say I'm sorry for getting you all into this." He apologised, still feeling guilty of putting the others in that dangerous situation. "If you want to turn back…"

"Are you kidding?" Astrid asked in disbelief.

"No way!" Ruffnut protested

"This is the most fun we've had in years!" Snotlout exclaimed.

"There's no way we're leaving." Raeda said firmly.

"If you think any of us, especially me, will actually leave you, then you are out of your mind." Hicca stated.

"There is one thing we need to do, though." Astrid suggested.

"I'm all ears." Hiccup said, relieve to hear the others wanting to stay.

"We need an island, our own island."

"Astrid's right, Hiccup." Fishlegs agreed. "We're way too far out to travel back and forth to Berk."

"What we need is a base of operations." Hiccup said, thoughtfully

"Exactly. But this time, we don't let the dragons pick it." Fishlegs suggested, before turning to his own dragon. "Sorry, girl, it had to be said."

Hiccup thought about that. "All right, Snotlout, you're the man of the hour for bringing the Monstrous Nightmare gel. You choose."

"Seriously?" Snotlout questioned, wondering if his cousin was joking.

"Yeah, seriously." Hiccup said, nodding.

"Just when you thought you saw it all." Hicca said smiling.

"Alright! What do you say, Fangster?" Snotlout asked his dragon. The Monstrous Nightmare roared with enthusiasm. "Ha! Couldn't agree more. Into the great beyond!"

"The great beyond!" Hiccup, Hicca, Raeda, Astrid, Fishlegs, Ruffnut and Tuffnut all exclaimed.


	4. When Darkness Falls

**A/N: Okay hopefully this chapter will be more clear. I just saw how the other chapter ended up and I don't know how that happened, but here it is! And I'm sorry I posted this late, but my college started a month ago and I have been busy with projects and work for my organization.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything from How to train your dragon**

 **Chapter 4: When Darkness Falls**

After the previous adventures, the Dragon Riders decided they need to look for a new base. However, they soon found that the task was easier said than done.

"Let's explore the island on foot; rest the dragons for a long trip home, I'm a muttonhead!" Snotlout mocked as he, Hiccup and Hicca ran away from four wild boars on foot.

"Oh like the lands you chose were any better!" Hicca retorted as they continue to run.

"OK, then genius, what's our next move?" Snotlout challenged.

The three continued to run until they reached a cliff, with the boars closing in.

"W-weapons, we need weapons." Hiccup said to the other two. Hicca readied her staff, while Snotlout eyed Hiccups' prosthetic.

"Got one!" He announced, grabbing the prosthetic.

"Snotlout, let go!" Hiccup demanded.

"What? Called dibs! Gimme!" Snotlout retorted.

"Snotlout, quit it!" Hicca said, trying to get her cousin away from her twin.

The trio then broke apart when they noticed the boars getting closer. Before the animals could get any closer, a series of Nadder spikes blocked their path, creating a protective barrier for the three human. A magnesium blast then sent the animals running away. Hiccup, Hicca and Snotlout looked up and saw Raeda and Astrid with Sparkfire and Stormfly, revealing to be the ones protecting them.

With the boars out of the way, the three humans reunited with their dragons and rejoined the others in the air.

"OK, so check that island off the list." Hiccup noted.

"Ooh-hoo-hoo! This is so exciting!" Fishlegs exclaimed, the excitement clear in his voice. "Searching the high seas for an island outpost to call our own!"

"Yeah, I like this idea!" Ruffnut agreed. "Move away from Berk, get my own place, away from you-know-who…" She looked meaningfully at her twin as she said the last part.

"Yeah, you're telling me, sister." Tuffnut nodded in agreement, not realising that he was the one she was talking about. "I am so sick of you-know-who. He never knows when to shut up! I want him out of here!"

"Guys, let's focus." Hiccup called getting them back on track. "Alright, we need to find an island that's safe, secure, and habitable for both us and the dragons."

"Blah, blah, blah! How many times do we have to hear that?" Snotlout asked, annoyed.

"Um, until we find what we're looking for?" He then spotted another nearby island. "Let's check this one out."

The dragons swooped down on the island and joined their riders in surveying the island.

"Not bad, not bad! Lots of fresh water, seems like a plentiful food supply…" Hicca listed.

"And lots of cool blue flowers." Ruffnut finished for the Haddock girl, picking up said flowers to sniff. "I'm in!"

However, she didn't know that these particular flowers were unfortunately familiar. Luckily the others did.

"Wait...aren't those...?" Astrid questioned.

Fishlegs gasped. "Blue Oleanders, deadly poisonous to dragons." They already confronted a Deathsong, they did not need a reunion with a Scauldron.

"So...we're not staying." Tuffnut questioned. He got his answer when Barf and Belch sneezed, accidently sparking a fire.

Luckily, the teens got their dragons off the island before they could become sick again and tried another island.

"Whoa, this island is beautiful!" Fishlegs commented. "I even like those weird dots all over the…"

Raedas' eyes widened at that. "Those aren't dots! They're Whispering Death holes!"

"Been there, done that." Snotlout said, and dragons quickly turned away before they could even land.

"Next!" Astrid called out.

Fishlegs, Astrid, Hiccup and Hicca inspected the next island, only to end up running away from the same boars from before, having somehow ended up back on the same island.

"My bad! Should've crossed this island off the list!" Fishlegs exclaimed as he screamed while running with the other three.

"How did we not recognised this island?!" Hicca questioned.

The four of them reached another cliff, but this time they jumped off the cliff where they were caught by the saddles of their waiting dragons, who flew them to safety

"OK…" Fishlegs trailed, trying to hold back gagging.

After some more searching, the group finally found a seemingly peaceful land.

"This looks pretty good!" Hiccup commented as they surveyed the island.

"Those cliffs could work! Good sight lines, easily defendable…" Astrid noted.

"The location is great!" Fishlegs exclaimed.

"It's perfect!" Ruffnut agreed.

"Yeah...too perfect…" Tuffnut trailed, not being taken into the scenery. "I'm just saying in the immortal words of the mighty Thor: "When something looks too perfect, it probably...sucks."

"Yeah, you know I'm pretty sure Thor never said anything remotely like that." Hicca said.

"Oh really? How do you know?" Tuffnut challenged. "Do you know Thor? Have you talked to him recently?"

"No...but-"

"Well, because I have! Hm, and I don't recall him mentioning you." Tuffnut said as-a-matter-of-fact. "Look. I just have a feeling about this place. I think we all know what happens when I get a feeling."

"We ignore it?" Astrid suggested.

"Mark my words! There will be something wrong with this island, something mysterious, something horrible, something...something…" Tuffnut warned.

"Ya finished?" Ruffnut asked, unimpressed by her twin.

"OK, first thing we need to do is set up camp for the night. We need dry wood for fire. We need fresh water, and we need someone on traps." Hiccup instructed.

Astrid noticed Snotlout arranging a pile of rocks. "Snotlout, what is that?"

"It's an 'S', for Snotlout. I think aesthetically it would look nice flying over it." Snotlout explained.

"I have to disagree with you there." Raeda commented, looking at the 'S'. "You need a lot more than a letter to make an island aesthetically pleasing. And nothing is more aesthetically pleasing than an art gallery."

"That's ridiculous. It doesn't matter what the outpost looks like. It needs to be functional and operational." Astrid stated.

"Uh, guys?" Hiccup called, trying to get their attention. "What we really need is-"

"-Is a place for rest, relaxation, and replenishing after a hard day's work." Fishlegs interrupted. "You're absolutely right Hiccup, look, Meatlug and I had some thoughts…" He placed a shield which has a model made of sticks and stones.

"Is that a hot tub?" Astrid questioned, looking at the model in disbelief.

"No! That's the mud bath!...The hot tub is other there." Fishlegs corrected.

Toothless rolled his eyes at the scene, which Hiccup noticed.

"Tell me about it." The boy said to his dragon.

"Wait a minute. Everyone stop." Tuffnut demanded as he and his sister moved forward to inspect the model. "I don't see it."

"Me neither…" Ruffnut agreed, also scanning the model.

"See what?" Hiccup questioned.

"Um, the boar pit!" Tuffnut answered, as if it was so obvious. "Where is it? Where's the boar pit?"

"You see, the centerpiece of any good outpost is a boar pit." Ruffnut explained.

"Why?" Astrid questioned.

"Everybody needs a little entertainment every now and then, don't they?" Tuffnut said, a little too darkly for anyones' liking. Astrid merely gave the Thorston boy a blank stare.

"Well, we do know where to get boars…" Fishlegs pointed out, remembering the island they checked out twice.

"Guys, enough of this!" Hicca chimed in.

"Thank you." Hiccup said in relief, hoping his sister could bring order to the group.

"Our first priority needs to be setting up a medical area."

That statement was met with protest, leading to Toothless firing a plasma blast to the ground, conveniently striking the 'S' Snotlout made

"Whoops! Sorry about that." Hiccup said, not sounding sorry one bit. "OK, so, uh, now that we have your attention, we really need to set up camp for the night."

"Wait, what about the-" Tuffnut was about to ask, before Hiccup interrupted.

"Dah-dah-dah-dah-dah-dah-we-we'll talk about the outpost design in the morning. For now, someone needs to get the water." Hiccup said firmly, silently pleading to his sister for back-up.

"He has a point. It's been a long day and we'll have plenty of time to figure this all out." Hicca said.

"I'm fine with setting up camp." Raeda agreed.

"Ugh. I don't know about you, but I like Whiny Berk Hiccup way better than Princess Out-post Hiccup." Snotlout whispered to Astrid.

"I know, right?" Astrid whispered back, for once agreeing with Snotlout. She turned to the Haddock boy and gave him two thumbs up. He sighed and shaked his head, seeing through the facade. He really needed to lie down.

The teens got to work setting up camp. By the time they finished, night-time came and everyone laid comfortably around the camp-fire.

A sound from a distance caught the Night Furies attention as their heads shot up. "Midnight?" Hicca questioned.

"What is it, bud?" Hiccup asked his dragon.

"I'll tell you what it is." Tuffnut jumped in. "Rats. Rats the size of yaks. No, it could also-is it? Yaks the size of rats? Yak-rats!" He rambled with a chuckle. "Great, those would be adorable. No, no! I know what it is. Yaks the size of dragons, right Toothless? Ya feel me, T? M? What about you?" Both Night Furies rolled their eyes at the male Thorston and laid their heads back down, deciding that the sound wasn't really a threat.

Fishlegs scoffed at Tuffnut. "There's no such thing as yaks the size of dragons."

Tuffnut suddenly pops up behind the Ingerman boy, startling him and Astrid, who was lying down near him. "Yak-dragons to you, my friend." Tuffnut replied to Fishlegs. "And when you hear their cries...you'll believe. Trust me. Hm? Rak-ay-ya-ya-na-na-na-na-oh! - Puh Poo. That's right. Let that roll around in your head for a minute."

"Unfortunately it will." Raeda sighed.

"Alright, Tuffnut, knock it off." Hiccup chided.

"Yeah, you're not scaring anyone." Snotlout snorted. He jolted back when Tuffnut suddenly zoomed in on his face

"Really? What if there were...snakes out there in the dark!" The blonde boy challenged. "Hm? Giant snakes? Snakes big enough to swallow a man whole and then barf out his bones? Bleh-ehh-ehh-ehh!"

With that Tuffnut backed away from Snotlout and the Jorgenson boy gave a scoff. "Ha! Please...barfing out bones…" But he quickly grabbed Hookfang's wing and covered himself for protection. "What?"

"Yeah, that's right. Go to bed! Sleep! If you can…" Tuffnut trailed off as he laid down, resting his head on Belch's neck, falling asleep while muttering something along the lines of 'Trolls' and 'demon-toes'.

With Tuffnut finished on his horror rants, the others were able to follow suit and go to sleep as well. The fire soon burns out and it seems to be a peaceful night, until a sudden noise in the forest wakes Tuffnut. "Ah! What was that?" He looks to see if anyone else woke up to the sound but found that it was only him. He gasps as he hears more sounds, deciding to go an investigate on his own.

As Tuffnut ventures into the forests, he gets startled when he sees a shadow running around. "It's in the trees…" Tuffnut mutters. He then jolts back when the shadow runs past him. "Ah! Yak-rats! I knew it…"

The mysterious creature turns around, revealing itself to be nothing more than an innocent little chicken.

Tuffnut sighs in relief at the discovery. "Oh...it's just a chicken. It's a tiny chicken." He then clears his throat and zero in on said chicken. "Hellooo breakfast!" He figured he shouldn't have to go back to the site empty-handed.

Suddenly, Tuffnut notices a giant shadow casted over him. Curious, the Thorston boy turns around and his eyes widened at the site. "Oh...my...Thor…"

What he saw caused him to scream at the top of his lungs as he ran back to camp at top speed, waking the others up in the process.

Rubbing their eyes, the teens to turned to Tuffnut, all wanting to know what all the ruckus was about. "Chicken! Roaring! Roaring huge chicken! Chicken roar!" Tuffnut tried to explain as he gasp for breath.

"Is he saying that he saw a big roaring chicken?" Fishlegs questioned, as he tries to make sense of Tuffnut's words.

"Not chicken...dragon." The male Thorston corrected. "Huge! Massive! What's another word? Colossal."

"But what happened to the chicken?" Fishlegs asked.

"Forget the chicken!" Tuffnut snapped. "WE GOTTA GET OUT OF HERE!"

"Is anyone falling for this?" Astrid yawned.

But Ruffnut wasn't so quick to dismiss her brother. "I don't know, I haven't seen him this freaked out since he found a leech on his-"

"Okaaay, I'm going to stop you there." Astrid interrupted, before she or the others could get traumatised.

"Hey, for all we know, Tuffnut could be telling the truth." Hicca reasoned.

"Or he thought he saw something terrifying, but it was actually harmless." Raeda interjected.

Hiccup sighed in exasperation. "OK, fine, let's just check this out, so we can all go back to sleep." He decided.

So the gang set off to the forest with Tuffnut leading them, trying to find the mysterious creature.

"OK, when this giant beast rips us limb to limb I will expect a full apology from each and every one of you." Tuffnut said to the others as they walked. "And a handshake. No, you won't be able to shake hands 'cause your limbs will be gone."

"We won't be able to apologise either if we're being ripped apart limb from limb." Hicca pointed out.

A rustle sound was heard, catching Tuffnut's attention..

"Shhh…" He shushed the group as he crept towards the source of the rustling. Suddenly, he jumped and did some karate chops in the air.. "AHHH! Ha-ha!"

But what they found wasn't the creature Tuffnut found, but was in fact, the chicken.

Tuffnut looked around, trying to find the beast he saw earlier. "No no no, it was here! And it was huge! I'm not making this up!" He then turns to the chicken. "Here, tell them. You were standing right there. Tell them, Chicken."

But Chicken merely gives Tuffnut a blank stare, wondering what the human was going on about.

"Uh, you're scaring me, bro. OK?" Ruffnut said to her brother. "And we shared a womb."

She and the others went back to camp, none were too happy about being woken up for a chicken. Tuffnut looked Chicken as it squawked. The human looked away, disgusted by the animals' betrayal. "I can't even look at you right now." Chicken bawks at the blonde boy, causing Tuffnut to snap his head back to the little animal. "What did you just say?!" Chicken merely stares for a second before bawking once. "I didn't think so." The Thorston boy walks back to camp with Chicken following behind him.

It seems that Tuffnut unintentionally made a friend, that is, if he doesn't eat her.

Next morning, all the riders were awake and ready to forget the 'Chicken Incident' the previous night, except for Tuffnut of course.

Hiccup yawns and stretches. "OK, now, let's talk outpost."

"Way ahead of you!" Raeda jumped in excitedly. "I got up early and started working on a diorama to really capture the beauty-"

"And making it look completely defenseless." Astrid interjected. "Luckily, I've been working on my designs. We'll set up look-out posts with interlocking fields of fire and-"

"-and never get any rest." Fishlegs piped in. "But here, in my meditation garden…"

"None of those is S-shaped, did you not see my design?" Snotlout demanded.

"An 'S' is not going to help cure a patient in dire times." Hicca countered.

"Boar pit. Boar pit! BOAR PIT!" Ruffnut chanted from behind.

"Guys guys guys guys li-listen to me." Hiccup said, trying to restore order. He remembered why he cut this discussion short last night. "OK, we need one idea. We can't design five different outposts." That last sentence gave him a thought. "Orrr...can we? You know what? Boar pit, great idea!"

Ruffnut was taken aback by this. "Whoaaa...what just happened."

Hiccup then turned to Snotlout. "S-shaped? I love it!"

"Don't freak me out, Hiccup! It gives me the willies…" Snotlout said, getting creeped out by this one-eighty twist by the Haddock boy.

"What are you trying to say?" Raeda asked.

"I'm just saying let's all come up with a design that we each think is the best and then we'll vote on it." Hiccup suggested. "Does that sound fair?"

The others just stared at Hiccup in shock.

"What are you up to?" Astrid questioned.

"N-nothin'! Nothing at all! Just trying to keep the troops happy." Hiccup said, a bit too quickly. "You know what they say, uh, happy troops are, uh, happy...groups...?" That's when he noticed they were short one person. "Hey, uh, speaking of troops, Ruff, where's your other half?"

"Don't ask me! All I know is that this boar pit is not gonna dig itself." Ruffnut answered.

Not wanting to forget what he saw last night, Tuffnut went back to the forest to look for the dragon, with Chicken in tow.

"OK, giant dragon, you are officially on notice." Tuffnut said out loud. "Oh, you can run, but you can't hide. I guess you can fly, you can also run, you can run or fly, but either way you can't hide, because nothing escapes the watchful eye of-AH!" He was too deep in his monologue that he didn't notice he was walking on the edge of a cliff, until he slipped and fell. Chicken just stood and watch the scene, flapping her wings, either in worry for the human or wondering if she could fly.

"Oh, I am hurt, I am very much hurt!" Tuffnut called from below once he hit the ground.

Working through the pain, Tuffnut eventually managed to make it back up the cliff, where Chicken was patiently waiting for him.

"Ugh. You couldn't have warned me?" Tuffnut snapped at the chicken. The farm animal has not been doing him any favors at all. Pulling himself back up, Tuffnut walks away, with Chicken on his heels once again.

Determined not to let the fall deter him, Tuffnut continued on his search. "OK, so it's gonna be the hard way. Fine, that's the way I like it. Just ask the chicken…" Chicken just stops and squawks, wondering what exactly the human wants her to say.

Tuffnut resolved to be more aware of his surroundings, which was beneficial when he noticed that he was walking towards another cliff. He immediately jumped back. "Whoa! Ha! Ha! See? Oh yeah, Tuffnut Thorston is locked in now, he ain't falling off another cli-" He suddenly slips and ends up falling off the cliff anyway.

"Multiple ledges!" Tuffnut yelled as he hit said 'multiple ledges'. "Ow ow ow ow ow! This island is very cliffy!"

Chicken squawks as she once again watches the scene, wondering what was it with this human and his fascination with falling off cliffs, because that looks painful

Back at the camp, Hicca, Astrid, Fishlegs, Ruffnut and Snotlout were all busy working on their designs for the outpost. Raeda, who was already done with her design, just drew in her sketchbook.

Hiccup, meanwhile, was relaxing with Toothless, enjoying the silence that came with everyone working. "Do you hear that, Toothless? That's the sound of peace and quiet." Toothless warbled happily, agreeing with his human. "You know, making them work together might be the best idea I've ever had."

"Knew it." Hicca said, overhearing her twin as she worked on her model nearby. "Well, bro, you can enjoy the silence, because no matter what we'll end up with a medical hut anyways. It's non-negotiable and I am co-leader here."

"Go ahead, sis." Hiccup encouraged.

Snotlout, who was just forming the letter 'S' in the sand with rocks, was about to grab one more to complete the image, when Fishlegs grabbed it first. "Uh, excuse me? My rock!"

"Huh, how do you figure?" Fishlegs challenged.

"I need it! That rock makes the bottom of my 'S,' and I need my 'S.'"

"Really? Your "S." Your genius architectural marvel." Fishlegs said in sarcasm, no doubt unimpressed.

"Give me the rock!" The Jorgenson boy demanded.

Fishlegs looked like he was considering it. "Huh...since you put it like that…" He looked like he was about to hand it over to the shorter boy, only to toss it to Meatlug, who happily ate the snack. This is one of the reasons she loves her human, he's always equip with tasty rocks to give her, even when she doesn't. It's like he can read her mind. The Gronckle then spits the rock out in the form of lava. Fishlegs wasn't as bothered by the loss as Snotlout was.

"There. There's your rock." Fishlegs stated with satisfaction.

"Don't look now, bro, but it looks like the moment of peace is going to be over." Hicca alerted her brother as she watched the scene between the two boys.

Enraged by the loss of the rock, Snotlout retaliates by belly-flopping right onto Fishles' model, completely destroying it. "And there's your architectural morph."

Fishlegs went into hysterics at the sight of his ruined hard-work. The fight followed not long after.

Hiccup sighed in exasperation. "Why do you have to be right?" He asked his sister, who just shrugged in response.

Ignoring the fight completely, Ruffnut approaches Hiccup. "Hey Hiccup, I'm ready for a for a try run, do you want to be the boar?" She offered in a sickeningly sweet tone. The Haddock boy groans in disgust while his twin moves away from the blonde girl.

That's when Tuffnut makes his way back to camp, looking worse for wear, with Chicken right behind him, completely unscathed.

"Whoaaa...what happened to him?" Ruffnut questioned as her twin walks by her and sits against a log.

In healer mode, Hicca checks the blonde boy for injuries while Hiccup and Ruffnut question him. "You've really been out there all day looking for that dragon?" Hiccup asked.

"Instead of digging our boar pit." Ruffnut rolled her eyes and lightly punched Hiccup. "Priorities, huh?"

"Or maybe he really did see something." Hicca said.

"I agree with Hicca." Hiccup said. After all, if it was really nothing, Tuffnut would never go through great lengths to find it. He should have already forgotten about it when he woke up.

"Oh, I saw something." Tuffnut said firmly, before turning to Chicken, who was perched on the log.. "You did too, you little backstabber. Tell them." Chicken started squawking, before Tuffnut interrupted her. "Aw, save it. You had your chance."

'This human fell down one too many cliffs.' Chicken thought to herself, which was in fact true.

"Or, this whole thing is a bunch of stinky yak dung." Ruffnut accused her twin.

"You know what? First of all, yak dung, when made into a nice tea, can be quite a-ro-ma-tic." Tuffnut countered, standing up.

"Agreed...but, I still think you're just trying to scare everybody." Ruffnut stated. "There's no dragon out there."

"Yes, there is, Ruffnut." Her twin argued. "You wanna put your mutton where your mouth is?"

Ruffnut's eyes widened as she followed her twins' train of thought. "Oh-h-h, you're not suggesting-"

"Oh, I am! I'm suggesting like a hot Gronckle in a lava pit. You know exactly what that means."

"What is going on with you two?" Raeda questions as she joins the group. The blonde twins arguing and Tuffnut's current state caught her attention.

"Silence!" Ruffnut demanded from the Henderson girl.

"I officially declare Thorston Challenge!" Tuffnut announced

"Thorston what?!" Hicca asked.

Ruffnut ignored her. "Accepted! Usual stakes?"

"Of course."

"Wha-What? Stakes?" Hiccup asked.

"It's better you don't know." Tuffnut answered.

The blonde twins spit in their hands and shook hands, making the challenge official. They then went off to their dragons.

"I have a feeling this is one of those things where we will regret being involved in but can't not be a part of." Hicca said to Hiccup and Raeda.

"Well it's either we follow them or we stay and deal with that." Raeda said, pointing to Astrid, Fishlegs and Snotlout who were fighting over materials for their models.

Toothless groaned, urging his human to go with the blonde twins.

"Well you have a good point, Rae." Hiccup said, before going after the blonde twins. "Ruff? Tuff? Wait up! How 'bout a couple of impartial judges for the Thorston Challenge? For the love of Thor, take us with you!"

The two girls followed after them, with Raeda turning back to the three staying behind. "My model better stay in one piece when I get back, or there will be consequences!"

So with Hiccup and Hicca as the impartial judges and Raeda as the witness to the Thorston Challenge, the rest of the day was spent looking for the dragon. Night-time soon came and Tuffnut was fast asleep in his saddle with Chicken in his arms

"They like chicken. Chicken on a stick. Chicken a la mode…" Tuffnut muttered in his sleep. He was starting to slip when Hicca came to his side and got him back on his saddle, without waking him.

"Aaand that's probably where we should call it a night." She decided

"Chicken rice…"

"Sure! Since we never found that quote on quote yak-dragon." Ruffnut said, looking at her twin at that sentence. "You and Hiccup declare me the Thorston Challenge Winner, Raeda witness it, and we can all go home!"

"Ah, OK, sure." Hiccup said. The Haddock twins exchanged glances before speaking in unison.

"By the power vested in us."

"I, Hiccup Haddock." Hiccup said on his own.

"And I, Hicca Haddock." Hicca continued, before they spoke together again.

"Hereby declare that Ruffnut is the-"

"Guys look!" Raeda suddenly called, pointing ahead where the same dragon Tuffnut saw appeared.

"No way." Hicca breathed out.

"I don't believe it…" Hiccup trailed, unable to identify the dragon they were looking at, which made his curiosity grow.

"Me neither. Tuffnut wins the Thorston Challenge." Ruffnut said begrudgingly.

As if her statement was an alarm, Tuffnut suddenly jolted awake. "Yes! Told you. Now, pay up!"

Ruffnut responds by hitting her brother, causing the two siblings to fight.

"Guys, focus!" Hiccup said, getting their attention. "Look, it's headed straight for our campsite. If it catches those asleep on the ground…"

The blonde twins snapped out of their fight and flew straight to the dragon, without waiting for the other three. As Barf and Belch flew at top speed, Chicken started squawking, getting Tuffnut's attention. He turned Chicken around to make eye-contact as a silent message was passed between animal and human.

"I forgive you too." Tuffnut replied affectionately as a single tear rolled down his cheeks. He then placed Chicken on top of his helmet.

"See you in Valhalla!" The Thorston twins yelled as they charged to the dragon.

"Here we gooo!" Ruffnut yelled as they got close.

But something strange happened. Instead of flying into the dragon, Barf and Belch flew through it as it suddenly dispersed.

"What in the name of...It's not one big dragon! It's tons of little ones!" Hiccup realised.

"That is so amazing. It's like Pointillism in art where tiny dots join together to form in image." Raeda said impressed, despite the fact that they were suppose to be fighting the dragons'

Confused, Ruffnut and Tuffnut looked around themselves.

"If this is Valhalla-" Ruffnut started.

"What are you doing here?" The blonde twins said to each other.

Just then, something caught Tuffnuts' eyes. "Whoa, check that out!"

Out of all the small dragons that form a large dragon, there was only one that was white in color, while the rest were black. The black dragons all regrouped around the white dragon, going back into formation.

"They're joining back up around the white one!" Ruffnut observed.

"It must be the leader!" Hiccup inferred. "You're right, Rae. This is amazing…"

Ruff and Tuff flew straight to the dragon once again and once again, the smaller dragons dispersed, but this time, the blonde twins flew straight to the white dragon.

"Guys, what are you doing?" Hicca called out

The adrenaline twins didn't listen. Instead they pulled out a net and captured the leader of the mysterious new dragons, causing the others to scatter, now that they don't have a leader to form around.

"Bam! Problem solved." Tuffnut declared as they flew back to the group with the captured dragon. "Alright, let's head home." He and his twin flew back without waiting for the others.

"That was too easy." Raeda noted.

"And whenever it's too easy, that means the real trouble comes soon after." Hicca stated.

"I agree, I'm getting a bad feeling as well…" Hiccup said.

Toothless, Midnight and Sparkfire warbled in agreement. No doubt their night was far from over.

For now they re-joined the others back to camp, where Tuffnut and Ruffnut already filled the others in on what happened, showing them their new prisoner.

"Amazing…" Fishlegs said, as he observed the new species.

"It looks sort of like a Terrible Terror…" Astrid noted.

The white dragon started screaming as it thrashed around in the net.

"But...bigger and meaner." The shield maiden finished.

"And it seems like they're nocturnal." Hiccup pointed out, remembering that the only encounters they had with the dragons took place at night. He looked up and noticed his cousins' confused look. "You know, they come out at night…"

Now knowing the meaning, Snotlout tried to play it off. "Yeah, I knew that! Noc-o-turnal...I was gonna explain that to them." He gestured to the Thorston twins, who were busy running in a circle with their newfound friend Chicken.

"I say we call them...Night Terrors." Fishlegs suggested, referring to the smaller dragons. He gets a surprise when he suddenly receives an armful of a squawking Chicken.

"Hey, I saw it first, so I get to name it." Tuffnut interjected, taking Chicken back into his arms. Chicken then bawks at him. "No, you always say that." He argued. "Now, let's think about this logically. They come out at night, and they're terrifying. Terror of the night...I've got it." He said, snapping his fingers. "Smidvarg and the Gang!"

He was just met with blank stares.

"That's actually not one of your worse suggestions." Raeda chimed in.

"And, Night Terrors, it is!" Hiccup declared.

Smidvarg suddenly seems agitated when there was roaring sounds in the distance.

"What's going on out there?" Astrid wondered.

"I don't know. Whatever it is, Smidvarg doesn't like it, and the Gang isn't paying attention." Tuffnut said.

"Let's check it out." Hiccup said.

Leaving the still-bound dragon on the ground, the Dragon Riders flew in V-formation, looking for any signs of the other Night Terrors. They instead found three Changewings preying on the smaller dragons.

"Changewings!" Hiccup exclaimed. Toothless rumbles, worried for the smaller dragons who were clearly outmatched. His human shared the same thoughts. "I know, bud, not exactly a fair fight, is it."

"Then let's even up the odds." Hicca said.

All seven dragons dove in and started attacking the Changewings, chasing them away from the Night Terrors

"No bullies on our island!" Astrid shouted, as Stormfly shot spikes at one of the Changewings.

Hookfang blasted another Changewing. "Hey, you can't treat our dragons like that!" Snotlout called out.

"Only we can treat our dragons like that!" Ruffnut finished, before Barf and Belch set off an explosion.

"That should take care of 'em." Hiccup said as the three Changewings finally decided to retreat.

"But what about those guys?" Fishlegs asked, pointing a flock in the distance. Hiccup looked through his spyglass and spotted more Changewings who were flying right at them!

"Incoming!" Hiccup warned.

"How many?" Astrid asked.

"Too many!" Hicca answered as she saw the Changewings through the spyglass.

"Why are they all coming here now?" Fishlegs pondered out loud.

A thought came to Hiccup."I-it must be the Night Terrors! When we captured the white one they all split up!"

Fishlegs eyes widened in understanding. "Oh, of course! They flock into a shape of a giant version of themselves as a defense mechanism to scare off predators!"

"And now that they can't…" Hicca trailed off.

"They're lunch!" Astrid finished.

"Knew there was going to be a downside to capturing the leader of the Night Terrors." Raeda said.

"OK, we have to help them. I'll head back for the white Night Terror. He's their leader. You guys hold them off as long as you can." Hiccup ordered.

"Got it!" Hicca said as she lead the others to fight off against the Changewings.

Toothless zoomed straight to the white Night Terror, who was still in the net. As soon as they landed, Hiccup quickly got off and used his knife to cut the net, freeing the captured dragon. Now able to fly, the smaller dragon screamed right into Hiccup's ear, clearly not happy with being in the net for so long.

"Yup! Probably deserved that." Hiccup winced. He, Toothless and the Night Terror flew back into the sky where the others were fighting against the Changewings. One Changewing zeroed in one Smidvarg and charged after it, only to be deflected by Barf and Belch

"You leave our Smidvarg alone!" Tuffnut demanded.

"Great job. You cover Smidvarg from behind, Toothless and I will lead the way." Hiccup said. Ruffnut and Tuffnut gave a smirk in triumph as they realised that Hiccup actually used the name Tuffnut gave. "What? OK, so it's growing on me." He admitted.

They fly off to help the others. One of the Changewings swoops rams into Stormfly and Astrid, causing the latter to fall off her dragon onto a rock column. The Changewing lands on it, almost smashing Astrid under its claws, but Astrid rolls away in time. Unfortunately, doing so made her end up hanging from the ledge.

"Lava blast!" Fishlegs commanded. Meatlug swoops in and hurls a lava blast at the Changewing just in time. "Oh Thor, oh Thor!"

"Stormfly!" Astrid called to her dragon, who rescues her just in time.

Fishlegs then screams when the Changewings and Night Terrors fly around him. "Oh Thor."

Hookfang and Snotlout suddenly appear, and crash into Fishlegs and Meatlug. They all end up on the ground with two Changewings charging after them. With the leader back, the Night Terrors reform, and scare the two Changewings, along with the rest of their species.

"Yes!" Snotlout exclaimed.

"Ha ha ha!" Fishlegs breathed out in relief.

The fight with the Changewings left everyone exhausted and they immediately went to sleep afterwards. The next morning, the group was gathered around Hiccup, Hicca and Raeda, the last of the three unrolled a parchment containing blueprints for the island.

"So you're going with Raeda's design without discussing with the rest of us?" Astrid asked in disbelief.

"Figures they'd choose the best friend." Snotlout grumbled.

"Yes, it is Rae's design, but it's a new one." Hicca explained. "Hiccup and I got the idea from Smidvarg."

"With Rae's help, we combined all our ideas into one giant base." Hiccup continued. "We could also call it the 'Dragon's Edge'. What do you guys think?"

The others look at each other, and nodded happily, all agreeing to the plan.

"OK, I just need to point out that this the first time that that has ever happened." Hiccup said. "Let's take a look. Rae?"

The Henderson girl nodded and brought attention to the blueprints. "Everybody gets to make their section of Dragon's Edge whatever they want it to be. Astrid, you can make yours the most heavily armed bedroom in the known Viking world. And Fishlegs, your place is quiet and secluded, overlooking the ocean. Very serene, very relaxing, with room for your very own rock garden. Hicca will have her medical hut at her place. Snotlout, your spot is up here! Now it's, it's not S-shaped, but you can go S-crazy and paint 'em all over it."

"Yeah I can! Snotlout!" The Jorgenson boy chanted.

"Just so you know this will be the first and only time I'll ever let you borrow my paints. Don't make me regret this" Raeda warned.

"Boar pit. Boar pit! BOAR PIT!" The blonde twins chanted in anticipation.

"Yes, yes! Ha ha! Glad you brought that up." Hiccup said, pointing to a spot on the blueprint. "There's a space for one right underneath your hut. Just do me a favor and lock up the boars after you're done with them."

"Aw…" Ruffnut cooed.

"You do care!" Tuffnut said happily. "Boodooboodeedoo…"

"We'll connect the different sections with bridges, zip-lines, and gangplanks." Hiccup continued, ideas already running in his head. "We'll have really cool stables with our own landing strip. And, of course, a dragon training arena. And in the center, overlooking everything else, will be the clubhouse, the "eye" of Dragon's Edge."

The rest of the day was spent building the outpost. When night time came everyone was happy to report a smooth process in laying the foundations.

"It's actually taking shape." Hiccup said, proud of everyone. "And now for one more addition to our outpost! Tuff?"

Said boy was busy petting and hugging the Chicken. "That's it, that's right, ha ha...ha…" He then noticed the others looking at him. "Uh...what? Oh. Smidvarg!" Chicken pecks at him, trying to get his attention back. "Ouch ow ow ow!" Ruffnut, who was sitting on a rock in the background, started laughing. "What? Oh I can't have friends now?"

Smidvarg flies up from behind them, followed by the gang. They land on the wooden perches which were made and set up specifically for them.

"Well, if we're going to share the island with them, Hicca and I thought we should share the outpost, too." Hiccup said.

"Plus it doesn't hurt that they seem to have an instinct to protect!" Fishlegs agreed.

"They'll be like sentries." Hicca said. "Right, Smidvarg?"

Said dragon squawkes in response, happy with this new alliance with the Dragon Riders.

"OK, so the Thorston Challenge. When is Ruffnut gonna pay up?" Hiccup asked Tuffnut.

"She already has." The blonde boy answer. "Can't you tell? I mean, look at her, she lost, so she had to swap clothes with me!"

"Riiight...and if you had lost?" Hiccup asked.

"Ugh, I'd have to swap clothes with her." Tuffnut explained with disgust.

"Yeah, but you guys are exactly, uh-" Hiccup tried to explain, before Astrid puts her hand on his mouth.

"Don't go there." She advised.

Smidvarg shrieks, getting everyone's attention, and the other Night Terrors gather around him.

"What are they doing now?" Hiccup wondered.

"No idea…" Fishlegs said.

The Night Terrors started flying in a new formation, one they worked on this morning.

"Hiccup, Hicca, look!" Fishlegs called.

Everyone was surprise and in awe to see that the Night Terrors joined together to form a Night Fury. The smaller dragons wanted to show their gratitude to their new allies for helping them defend their land.

"Whoa...awesome…" Ruffnut said.

"Amazing…" Hicca praised.

"Impressive!" Raeda said, smiling.

Toothless and Midnight croon happily at the sight and both proudly stand up to match the Night Terrors' formation. Their humans laughed while Chicken, who was in Tuffnut's hands. squawks.

"Oh, chicken, I couldn't have squawked it better myself…" Tuffnut agreed, happily.


	5. Big Man on Berk

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything from How to train your dragon**

 **Chapter 5: Big Man on Berk**

Today, the Dragon Riders were flying above the ocean near Berk at the request of the Chief Stoick the Vast, concerning a problem with the Scauldron. "All right, gang, we'll buzz past the Scauldron and draw its attention." Hiccup said to the group.

"That way Astrid, Rae, Ruff and Tuff can net it from behind and drag it out to sea, got it?" Hicca finished.

"I still think we should blast it!" Tuffnut objected.

"Stoick just wants us to move the Scauldron out of Berk's fishing lanes." Astrid reminded the blonde male twin. "So don't get any crazy ideas."

"Uh, sorry. Crazy is what we do, Astrid." Ruffnut brought. "Duh!"

"Truthfully, crazy is what we all do." Raeda pointed out.

"You guys do realize that a Scauldron's hot water blast can rip the scales right off a Screaming Death?" Fishlegs reminded everyone, mainly the blonde twins.

A familiar roar caught everyone's attention before anyone could respond to Fishlegs.

"There it is. Let's focus, guys." Hiccup ordered, before he and his twin led the others to their target.

"As usual, nobody's listening to Fishlegs." Said boy muttered, as his Gronckle followed the others.

The dragons flew slowly and steadily behind the Scauldron, making sure not to alert it of their presence. Raeda, Astrid, Ruffnut and Tuffnut got the net open and ready to use to capture the sea dragon. Hiccup gave the signal to everyone to be ready and then counted down. "One…" Fishlegs suddenly gave a snort, as if he was about to sneeze. "Two…" Fishlegs gave a grunt, trying desperately to contain the sneeze but failing. "Three!"

 _AH-CHOO!_

Fishlegs sneezed causing him to accidently steer Meatlug in the wrong direction and bumped into Snotlout and Hookfang, pushing the boy off his dragon and into the net meant for the Scauldron.

"Help me!" Snotlout called from inside the net.

"That escalated much quicker than I thought it would." Hicca said sighing.

"Abort! Abort!" Hiccup called, while Toothless flew out of the way to avoid colliding into the boy and Gronckle duo who were flying uncontrollably due to the formers' sneezing. "Aah! Fishlegs!"

The four people carrying the net tried to fly their dragons out of there as fast as they could, which was a bit tough because they already flew close enough to the Scauldron, who is now giving them its full attention and definitely does not seem happy with their presence.

"Uhh! I knew I hated this mission." Snotlout complained, still in the nest and most vulnerable to a boiling water attack.

"Plasma blast, bud/girl." Hiccup and Hicca both said to their dragons. The Night Furies fired at the dragon, causing it to retreat underwater.

"Oh, I see how it is. You two are allowed to blast it." Tuffnut grumbled as the group headed back to Berk and come up with a new strategy.

Back on Berk, Henry and two of his dragons, sibling Sand Wraiths, Sandtrapper and Sandstorm, were walking in the plaza, back to the Academy after doing a quick perimeter check around Berk to see if there were any ships coming towards the island. It was highly unlikely that _they_ would be able to find them all the way here, but Henry learned a long time ago not to get too confident.

"You and your Snot-rockets almost got me killed!" Henry and his two dragons overheard from the distance, making them stop. They turned to see that the Berk teens were gathered with their dragons in the center of the plaza and that statement came from the short, brawn boy who's name was….well Henry actually didn't know. He didn't know any of the other teens names, except for Hicca and Hiccup.

"Calm down, Snotlout, you lived. Yay us." The blonde girl with the blue shirt said with less enthusiasm.

"Back so soon?" Henry called out. He normally wouldn't try to make an effort to socialize with the teens, but he realised that they all went out exploring and might have a good chance of at least seeing certain ships.

"Oh hey Henry." Hicca greeted, as the two Sand Wraiths went to her and nuzzled in greeting, recognising the human who's been helping their friend. The other teens were surprise that the Henry was actually greeting them. This was the first time since him arriving to Berk with his dragons, that he did so. Hicca on the other hand, has gotten use to the short-talks they have every now and then. "We're just trying to complete a task Hiccup and my dad gave us."

"Key word is _trying_ , no thanks to Itch-legs over here." The boy, who Henry now know as Snotlout, grumbled.

"It's so weird. I mean, I never... oh... ever…" Fishlegs tried to defend himself before feeling another sneeze coming. "Ah-choo!...get sick." He groaned. He then started scratching himself. "Ohh. Oh, gosh."

"Dig deeper, see if you can draw blood." Tuffnut cheered excitedly.

Henry and the two Sand Wraiths just watched the scene with discomfort, with the human wondering if it was a good idea to socialize with the other teens in the first place.

"Well, something's clearly not right with you." Hiccup said.

"I don't see what the big deal is, okay? Everybody sneezes and scratches sometimes." Fishlegs said defensively.

"Not like a honey-covered yak on an anthill." Tuffnut countered. "What? You've never seen a honey-covered yak on an anthill? Well, those things scratch. It's terrifying. The horrors haunt my dreams."

"I really don't feel sick, okay? I promise, I'm fine." Fishlegs reassured. But it was hard to be reassuring when he started using Meatlug to scratch his back, much to the others disgust.

"Ugh. Well, your symptoms seems to be pointing to allergies." Hicca said

"Uh, that's impossible. Allergies don't run in the Ingerman family." Fishlegs stated, still scratching. "I'm clean, serene and…"

"And an itchin' machine!" Ruffnut finished.

"Might I interject?" Tuffnut suddenly spoke up. "We at the Thorston house have a very simple allergen detection system. It has never failed."

"That's a system?" Ruffnut questioned.

"It is now." Her twin answered.

They went to the Academy to use the Thorston system, with Henry, Sandtrapper and Sandstorm there with the rest of their dragons watching from a distance. Henry already figured the teens haven't encountered _them_ yet, but was now curious of the group that he decided to still watch.

"Thousand-year-old egg." Tuffnut presented, handing said egg to Fishlegs. "Slam this down your gullet."

"Hmm." Fishlegs said, inspecting the egg before eating it, much to the disgust of the other "Oh, it could use a little sea salt." He said, to Tuffnut's disappointment.

Ruffnut then stepped in. "What about this?" She shoved a stick filled with yak-hair right into Fishlegs' face. "Yak hair. Takes itchy to a whole new level." She explained as she continued to rub yak-hair on the Ingerman boy.

But the blonde boy didn't seemed bothered by it. "Not really. Feels kind of like my old Aunt Gerta. You know, she used to…"

"No, I'd like to be able to sleep tonight." Hiccup interrupted quickly.

Tuffnut then handed Fishlegs a mug filled with what appears to be goat milk but with a very strong smell. Henry and his dragons could smell it, even though they were at a distance. "Spoiled, coagulated goat milk with just a pinch of hoof jam.I find it changes the whole experience."

"Woah! Okay, no. I need to draw a line here. That can't be good for-" Hicca tried to interjected, but Fishlegs much to the shock, horror and disgust of the other teens and dragons actually _drank_ that concoction and somehow managed to not spit it out. He didn't even seem repulsed as he swallowed it. "Oh, that is... cheesy and delicious!"

"I don't know whether I should be amazed or disgusted at that." Raeda said.

"I'm choosing to be concerned." Hicca answered, while taking a bottle out of her bag. "Drink this before the milk comes back to haunt you."

"I'm telling you, I've never been allergic to anything." Fishlegs insisted, after drinking the medicine. He then walks over to his dragon and that was when he sneezed once again. "Ah-choo!"

"Huh." Was all Hicca said as she seemed to be in thought.

"What? What is it?" Fishlegs asked, noticing the expression/

"Fishlegs, I think you might be allergic to... Meatlug." She theorised.

"Why, all of a sudden, would he be allergic to Meatlug?" Raeda asked.

Before Hicca could answer that, Tuffnut spoke up. "Perhaps it's just a simple case of adult-onset allergies."

"Ah, I concur with your diagnosis, Dr. Nut." Ruffnut agreed.

"I concur with your concur-ation." Tuffnut replied.

Ruffnut continued to explain. "Adult-onset allergies develop in your elder years when your immune system mistakenly identifies a dangerous substance."

The rest of the teens were surprised at what they heard. "That's correct, all of it." Hicca agreed. "Y-you guys actually read those pamphlets I give you."

"That and the Thorston family history of allergies which led to the created of the allergen detection system." Ruffnut added

But Fishlegs was skeptical about this. "Don't be silly. There's no way I'm...allergic to Meat…" Ruffnut proved the theory true by shoving the boy into the Gronckle, causing him to sneeze hysterically.

"Oh, yeah, diagnosis confirmed." The Thorston girl said, letting go of her patient.

"Fishlegs, there's only one person that might actually be able to help." Hicca said.

That person was Gothi. The Haddock twins, Raeda, Snotlout and Fishlegs went to the elders' hut, while Astrid and the Thorston twins decided to catch up on the happenings of Berk. Henry also opted to stay back.

After explaining the situation, the teens waited to see what the elder would decide to do. They watched as she waved her arms around in a strange manner.

Snotlout chuckled as he watched the healer's antics. "Ohh, I gotta see this."

Gothi then started scribbling in the sand.

"What's she saying?" Fishlegs asked.

Gobber was the one who read the scribbles. His eyebrows were raised at what he read. "Huh."

"What? What?!" Fishlegs asked worriedly.

"She wants to paralyze you." Gobber answered.

Fishlegs gasped in shock and fear, while Snotlout got excited. "Yes!"

"That can't be right!" Hicca protested

 _WHACK!_

Gothi was quick to prove Hicca right.

"Aah! Check that." Gobber said, rubbing his head. "Hypnotize. Sorry, she wants to hypnotize you."

"Ugh, come on." Snotlout complained.

Hicca gasped at that. "You mean we get to see you do hypnotherapy?" Gothi nodded at that question and which made her protegee more excited.

Fishlegs chuckled at that, relieved that he's not going to be paralysed. "Unfortunately, guys, this is never gonna work on me because I'm way too…" As he talked, Gothi waved her staff in front of him in a circular motion, making him feel drowsy. "Okay."

A second later, he was snoring on the ground.

"Unconscious? Ha! Quick, put his hands in warm water." Snotlout urged.

"We're not going to do that." Hiccup said firmly.

"This is amazing, I've always wanted to see hypnotherapy in action." Hicca said as she walked over to read what Gothi scribbled. "Okay, now that he's under, she wants us to tell him that he's not allergic to Meatlug. I call it!"

"Does that really work?" Snotlout asked, feeling skeptic.

"It does." Hicca answered as she walked towards Fishlegs. "Hypnosis opens the depths of our subconscious minds, enhancing our capacity to respond to a suggestion thus allowing such changes to take place."

"Of course, of course, that makes a lot of sense." Snotlout said sarcastically, not understanding the workings of hypnosis.

"Here goes." Hicca said, sitting near a still-unconscious Fishlegs. "Fishlegs, you are not allergic to Meatlug. You are not allergic to Meatlug." She repeated, making sure her words are clear and concise.

"So, that's it?" Snotlout asked, seeming unimpressed.

"Basically." Hicca said. "But don't let this fool you. Hypnosis is very powerful."

"Okay, let's bring him out of it." Hiccup said.

Snotlout suddenly got an idea. "Now, now, now, hang on a second. We've got an opportunity here. We can rebuild Fish-face. We can turn him into a worshipped Viking. A fearless godlike hero, as strong as three yaks! A Viking who commands attention!" What no one noticed was that Fishlegs facial expressions seemed to shift while Snotlout was talking. "In other words, a Viking worthy of my friendship."

"Shut it, Snotlout! You have to be careful with what you say. The subconscious mind is vulnerable enough to take any suggestions given to it." Hicca reprimanded

"And we're definitely not doing any of that." Raeda added.

"You can bring him out of it now." Hiccup said to Gothi.

"I just hope none of your words got to him." Hicca said to the Jorgenson boy.

Gothi walked up to Fishlegs and snapped her fingers in front of his face. Fishlegs took a few seconds to blink his eyes before he jumped up. The others were a little puzzled when they saw the sudden intense look on their friends face as he flexed his muscles.

"Fishlegs?" Hiccup called with uncertainty

"Fishlegs?" The blonde boy repeated with a haughty accent. He then scoffed. "There's no Fishlegs here." He then noticed Meatlug. "Who is this pudgy little reptile?"

That shocked everyone, because Fishlegs would _never_ , in a million years, ever insult Meatlug.

"I'd never thought I'd see this." Raeda said.

"That was a bit harsh." Gobber commented.

"And very strange." Hicca added.

"Fishlegs, are you alright?" Hiccup asked the larger boy.

"Are you deaf, skinny, one-legged boy?" 'Fishlegs' demanded. He then grabbed Gothi's staff with both arms and raised it in the air. "The name's Bonecrusher." With that, he snapped the staff in two and tossed it out the window. "Thor Bonecrusher."

The others looked at him in shock while Gothi glared at him for breaking her staff.

It wasn't difficult for Hicca to figure out what happened. "Snotlout, do you realize what you've done? You idiot! You've created-"

"My very own super-Viking!" Snotlout finished excitedly, looking at Thor in awe. "Thor Flipping Bonecrusher! I love it!"

"Yeah for some reason, I don't think that's going to be a popular decision." Raeda dead-panned.

'Thor' didn't waste anymore time in the hut. He soon made his way to the Plaza, with Snotlout following his new role model. The vikings who passed them paused as they looked at the duo. They were surprised at both Fishlegs drastic change in demeanour and Snotlout look of admiration towards Fishlegs, two things they didn't think they would see separately, let alone together.

"Oh, hello." 'Thor' said confidently to a woman walking by. The woman stopped, confused because not only is Fishlegs acting different, he's also sounding different.

'Thor' then gave a thumbs up to a man pushing a cart full of apples. The viking was so caught off-guard by the move that he let go of his cart, causing it to roll away and crash into a neary hut.

The Haddock twins and Raeda, caught up with Astrid and finished re-telling the incident at the hut.

"And Gothi can't just turn him back?" The blonde girl asked.

"Not without her staff, which Thor Bonecrusher broke and _threw off the cliff_." Hicca explained.

"And unless we can get something that could replace the staff, Fishlegs is going to stay like this because there's no other way to snap him out of it." Raeda added.

Back with Fishlegs, or 'Thor', his new personality has attracted quite a lot of attention as the villagers gathered around him, all wondering what happened to the shy and nerdy Fishlegs they were used to.

"So, TB, you're not afraid of anything, huh?" Snotlout asked, before he suddenly and swiftly drew out his sword and struck the Inger- _Bonecrusher_ teen.

The blonde boy merely grabbed the sword with his hands, pulled it out of Snotlouts' grasp and tossed it away. "Ha! Child's play." He scoffed.

"How about fire?" Snotlout challenged, bringing a burning torch close to the other boys' face.

"I scoff at fire!" 'Thor' replied, grabbing the torch and tossing it away as well.

"Fire! My house is on fire!" A woman suddenly yelled in panic. "Someone threw a torch on my house!"

I wonder who did that….

"Perfect, a call to action!" 'Thor' said. He ran towards the burning house, kicked the door open and rushed inside without hesitation. Soon enough, he made it out with one sheep each tucked under his arms. Snotlout and the other villagers stared in shock and awe before they started cheering for him.

"Please hold your applause until the end of the rescue." 'Thor' ordered. He then grabbed a nearby trough full of water and effortlessly tossed it at the burning house, successfully dousing out the flames. Once that was taken care of, he turned to the crowd. "You may commence."

The cheering resumed.

The woman whose house he saved, walked up to him, ready to thank him. "Fishlegs…"

"Fishlegs?" Thor interrupted, clearly disgruntled by the name. "Why does everybody keep calling me Fishlegs?"

"But you're Fishlegs, Fishlegs." The woman answered.

"Nonsense, crone!" 'Thor' objected. He then turned to the crowd. "People of Berk. It is with great pleasure that I announce the arrival of me, Thor Bonecrusher. The most universally feared and loved Viking in all the land is here to enchant you with my presence."

"Look out, the cart!" Another viking yelled out. This brought everyone's attention to a wayward cart filled with apples that was rolling very fast towards another cart with a baby in it.

"Ah! The baby!" A woman yelled in panic.

'Thor' wasted no time. He sprinted towards the wayward cart doing a few somersaults along the way, which impressed everyone and then leapt in the air, landing right in between the cart of apples and the baby cart.

The villagers cheered louder as the mother of the baby immediately ran to the cart and picked up her child.

"All in a days' work." 'Thor' said, waving to his fans.

"Did you see that?! That was incredible!" Snotlout exclaimed to Hiccup, Hicca, Raeda and Astrid, who joined the crowd in time to see the stunt. "He ran, and then did a flip and then a toss and then a thing, and then flipped into the other thing. Ohh! He's amazing."

"Is it me, or did Snotlout just fall in love with Fishlegs?" Astrid asked with her eyebrows raised.

"This day is just getting weirder and weirder." Raeda said, as the villagers continued to chant the name of their new hero.

The hero in question was basking in his new-found glory, until a sound from the distance caught his attention. "Shh, everyone!" He demanded, and everyone immediately grew quiet. "Thor hears the sound of a baby yak in trouble."

He then darts away, towards the sound of the baby yak, which was still far away and causing a rampage. 'Thor' then leapt in the air, jumping from one rooftop to the other to get closer to the baby yak faster as the villagers continued to look on in awe.

'Thor' caught up to the baby yak, just as it was about to run off a cliff, grabbed it, put a hand on its back and squeeze, causing the yak to fall asleep immediately.

"Sleep well, little yak." He said in a low voice before placing the yak on the ground. "Sleep well."

He returned back to the crowd and the cheering gets wilder everytime.

"What's next, Thor?"

"Show us more amazing feats of bravery!"

"I shall, citizen, I shall." 'Thor' reassured. "But first, I must claim a weapon befitting a god!"

He set off to the forge, with Snotlout following him. "Thor, you have got to teach me that Viking yak pinch."

The bigger viking decided to give the Jorgenson boy a first hand experience by repeating the same action to him, causing him to drop to the ground, out cold.

"All in the wrist, Snot-man." 'Thor' said without stopping from his path.

At the forge, Gobber was busy with his usual work, having decided to let the teens deal with the whole Fishlegs/Thor issue.

 _Well, I got my axe and I got my mace..._

"You, simple blacksmith!" A new voice interrupted him

"Simple blacksmith?" Gobber repeated, narrowing his eyes.

Snotlout, who recovered from his impromptu nap, quickly caught up to his new buddy and tried to find a suitable weapon for him. "Uh, how about this one?" He suggested, holding up a dagger.

Thor seemed to consider it. "Oh, that's perfect... for removing splinters."

Snotlout laughed nervously as he threw the weapon away and held up a sword. "What about this one? You can use it to annihilate your enemies."

Once again the blonde boy inspected it for a second. "That's a nice handle, I suppose... if I had wee lady hands."

"Hmph, I made that handle with my best leather." Gobber protested.

'Thor' decided to look for a weapon himself. He picked up several weapons, inspected each for a second, before tossing them away. He then stopped when he saw an axe.

"Now, this. This is an axe for a Viking." He praised, holding the axe.

"That's Stoick's axe." Gobber pointed out the weapon that the chief had sent to change the blade.

That didn't seem to bother Fishlegs. "Correction: This was Stoick's axe." He said, looking at Gobber with a challenge to see if the blacksmith would stop him.

That was when Hiccup and the three girls came to the blacksmith and caught wind of what was going on. "Uh, okay, uh, Fishlegs?" Hiccup interjected before correcting himself. "I-I mean, Bonecrusher. Stoick isn't exactly the kind of chief who likes to share his things, especially his axe."

"Neither do I." 'Thor' stated. "If this Stoick fellow wants it, he can always try and take it back from me."

"Oh, man! He just totally called out Stoick!" Snotlout said as he watched his new role-model in awe. "How much do we love this guy?"

The others didn't bother trying to correct the teen.

Meatlug, who had been following the group hoping her human would snap out of whatever it was that was causing him to act this way, slumped down, clearly upset. "Okay, this is getting out of hand. We need to get Thor Bonecrusher back to Gothi before we lose Fishlegs forever." Hicca said.

"I totally agree. Just one question." Gobber said, nodding his head. "Where'd he go?"

The answer was in the Great Hall. There Bonecrusher was busy recalling a story (definitely made up) to his new fan-club, which comprised of almost the whole village.

"So there I was, Thor Bonecrusher, perched on an inferior dragon as we approached the vicious Scauldron, faster than Odin on his eight-legged horse."

"You could have Hookfang next time." Snotlout immediately offered. "He's a Monstrous Nightmare, scariest dragon of all."

"Monstrous Nightmare?" Bonecrusher questioned before scoffing. "Sounds like my post-mutton trip to the outhouse."

That caused everyone to start laughing, with Snotlout hesitantly joining in. "Post-mutton trip! We've all been there, ain't we?! Good one." Hookfang, however, glared at the duo, taking offense to the comment.

Meatlug, still upset with the situation was slumped down in the corner without her saddle. "Poor Meatlug. Wouldn't even wear her saddle." Gobber said to the other teens. "Look at her. So lonely. We've got to do something with her."

"Hicca and I'll take care of Meatlug." Hiccup offered.

"Yeah, she can stay at our place until we get this situation sorted out." Hicca agreed.

"My chances of survival were slim. I only had one option." Bonecrusher continued with the story.

"Ah, ooh, oh, oh! Fly away?" A viking man suggested.

That comment earned him a glare from the storyteller. "I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that."

"Sorry." The man said meekly.

"No, I had something very special in store for that Scauldron." Bonecrusher continued. He was describing the Dragon Riders earlier encounter with the Scauldron, with some tweaks. Instead of botching up the mission, he boldly dived off Meatlug and after the dragon while the others watched with fear. Despite 'Thor's' best efforts, the Scauldron still managed to get away.

"He narrowly escaped. However, next time, victory shall be mine!"

That earned more applause.

"Put me in your next story! Just as the background. But please?" Snotlout requested in a low voice amidst the cheering

"Fishlegs! Is that my axe?!" Stoick voice boomed, causing the Great Hall to go silent.

"O-oh, he's got his axe." The vikings whispered to one another as they quickly made room for their chief to pass through.

'Thor' merely watched in amusement as the chief approached him with narrowed eyes.

Hiccup quickly tried to step in and diffuse the situation. "Uh, Dad, that's not Fishlegs Fishlegs."

"Don't be daft. I'm looking right at him, holding my axe, by the way." His father pointed out.

"Ah, you must be Stoick the Vast-". Bonecrusher said, resting the axe on his shoulder. "ly overrated."

"He didn't." Raeda said, covering her mouth with her hand in shock as her eyes widened.

"He did." Hicca said, getting a bad feeling. "This is definitely not going to end well.

"What did you call me? What did he call me?!" The chief demanded, first to Thor, then to Hiccup..

"That's what I'm trying to tell you. He's not himself." Hiccup tried to explain.

"He's under hypnosis." Hicca added

"Give me back my axe!" Stoick demanded Bonecrusher.

"Don't you mean my axe?" 'Thor' corrected, keeping the axe closer to himself. The two of them stared at each other with intense gazes, cracking their knuckles as if preparing for a fight.

Gobber quickly stepped in. "He was just polishing it for you, Chief."

"Let us handle this." Hiccup reassured. "We will get your axe back to you, I promise."

After one last glare at Bonecrusher, the chief turned to the others. "Fine, but make it quick, or I'll take it from him myself."

Raeda looked at Gobber, silently pleading for him to do something. Luckily the dragon dentist/blacksmith got the hint. "Chief, let's get out of here. How about a nice piece of mutton?"

The four teens watched as the two adults walked away, trying to figure out what to do now.

"So, riddle me this." A new voice called out to them, causing them to turn around and find Henry casually sitting by one the long benches of the table with Lock-jaw by his side. Even he has heard about Berk's newest hero and although he doesn't know Fishlegs that well, the little encounter he had with the others before was enough to tell Henry that the blonde boy was acting completely out of character. His curiosity has been getting the best of him these days. "How do you manage to go from a simple task of getting rid of someone's allergy to turning that person into _that_." He gestured to Bonecrusher, who went back to regaling heroic stories to his captive audience.

Hicca answered that. "Well, you see, there are people who can't do things by halves, and then there are people who can't do anything by _whole_. We're in the latter part of the group."

Henry just looked at the group for a second before shaking his head and crossing his arms. "You guys are something. I can't tell if it's a good something or a bad something, but it's definitely entertaining to watch."

"Well, glad someone is amused by this." Hiccup said sarcastically. "Now if you excuse us. We need to go find Gothi."

He, Astrid and Raeda turned to leave, but Hicca stayed for a second. Henry also decided to go back to the Academy when the Haddock girl stopped him.

"Hey, you wouldn't happen to know a way to counter hypnotism, would you?" She asked.

The boy just shook his head and continued to leave with Lock-jaw walking next to him. "Cute." He said in a low voice to Lock-jaw, referring to Hicca. "Like I would have the time to read about that stuff." As he reached to the doors he turned back to look at the Berk teens, still talking to his dragon. "I don't know what it is about this group, buddy." His rested on Hicca longer before he left the Great Hall.

Hicca quickly rejoined her group.

"You and Henry certainly seem to be on friendly terms." Astrid pointed out to the auburn girl.

"Well, I would hope we are, considering I've been taking care of his injured dragon since he got here." Hicca reminded the blonde girl. She looked back to the direction Henry left, before shifting her focus on finding her mentor.

So the four teens, with Ruffnut and Tuffnut tagging along, went to Gothi for help. The elder had them bring Bonecrusher back to her hut where she would give him a potion. It took a bit of convincing, but the teens eventually managed to convince Bonecrusher to come along, making him believe he was getting some kind of fancy drink.

"I hope this won't take long, sorceress. I like to nap after a feast of wild boar and mead." Bonecrusher demanded

"Thanks, Gothi, we really need Fishlegs back." Hiccup said.

Gothi walked up to Bonecrusher with a bottle of her potion in her hand. She forced opened Bonecrushers' mouth and poured the entire content of the bottle in.

The teens waited, holding their breaths, to see if their friend will turn back to normal. But instead of that happening, Bonecrusher, quickly ran and threw up in a nearby barrel.

Astrid cringed at that. "Ugh! What was in that potion?" She asked as Gobber arrived in the hut.

Gothi scribbled an answer, and Hicca went to translate. "It wasn't a potion. Just spiced yak bladder. She says that'll teach him to break her staff."

"Not the most delicate delicacy." Bonecrusher commented, sounding weak for the first time since waking up from his hypnosis.

"What about getting Fishlegs back?" Raeda asked the healer.

This time Gobber translated the scribbling. "She can't re-hypnotize him without her staff."

Hicca suddenly got an idea. "I could give it a shot." The others looked at her. "At hypnotising Bonecrusher. I've never actually done that before but I read about it enough. And I can use my dagger as a substitute for the sword." She brought out the dagger from her bag.

"Give it a shot, sis." Her brother encouraged.

Hicca then went to Bonecrusher who was recovering from the concoction he was forced to drink. "Hey, Fish-I mean Thor, think you can take this on this test of courage? Sounds simple, but it's not."

Bonecrusher scoffed. "Bring on the challenge, other scrawny viking."

"'Other scrawny-'" Hicca huffed before re-focusing on her task. She held the dagger right on larger boy's eye-line. "Just keep your eye on this dagger at all times. Do not break eye-contact." She slowly waved the dagger around in a circular clock-work motion, similar to how her mentor waved her staff earlier. "And everytime this dagger finishes its' circle, you find yourself getting sleepier and sleepier." A few more circles and Hicca gave her next command. "Now just close your eyelids and sleep." She snapped her fingers at 'sleep', hoping it would do the trick.

'Thor' merely scoffed and knocked the dagger out of Hicca's hands. "A waste of time was all that test was."

The auburn girl sighed as she turned to the others. "Sorry guys. Guess I haven't mastered the art of hypnotism just yet."

"Well, I wouldn't say that." Raeda commented, pointing to Ruffnut, Tuffnut and Gobber, who all dropped to the ground unconscious as soon as Hicca snapped her fingers.

"Great, now what?" Hiccup asked.

Gothi written something else in the dirt, which Hicca translated. "Fear. Only a true feeling of terror will shock Fishlegs back to normal."

"But Mr. Thor Bonecrusher over here isn't afraid of anything." Astrid pointed out.

"Truer words were never spoken, my fair Viking lady." Bonecrusher agreed, putting an arm around Astrids' shoulders.

"Ugh." The shield-maiden said, shrugging the arm off. It was bad enough to get this from Snotlout, but now Bonecrusher?

Said man didn't seem bothered by this. "Now, where is that snotty fellow? We have business to discuss." With that, he left the hut.

Hicca then woke up the three sleeping victims before they accidentally get hypnotized as well. As he stretched, Gobber then remembered why he came. "Oh by the way, Hicca, Hiccup, you two may want to swing by the old homestead. Your father is in a bit of a... state."

The Haddock twins went to their house to see the 'state' Gobber was talking about. It turns out that their father was not happy with their new house guest, Meatlug. Especially when said Gronckle was hugging the chief the same way she hugs her human, pinning him down with her weight.

"Get this dragon off me!" Stoick demanded, once he saw his kids.

"Dad, she's just lonely." Hiccup explained.

"That's how she hugs." Hicca added.

"If she doesn't get off me, we'll be having Gronckle for breakfast." Their father vowed.

"We need to get Fishlegs back before this gets any worse." Hiccup said to his twin.

"Hiccup! Hicca!" Raeda shouted as she and Astrid ran up to the twins.

"Let me guess. It's Thor." Hicca deadpanned.

"Yeah, and Snotlout." Raeda said.

"And you're not gonna believe where they're headed." Astrid said.

The two boys in question were flying out on Hookfang trying to find the Scauldron they encountered earlier.

"Ohh! Can't this overgrown lizard fly any faster?" Bonecrusher demanded.

Snotlout gave a nervous laugh before whispering to his dragon. "Come on, Hookfang, you're embarrassing me."

"Onward, Snot-man!" Bonecrusher commanded. "We must find a dragon worthy of my command. My destiny awaits!"

Immediately after finding out where Snotlout and 'Thor' were heading, the four teens found Ruffnut and Tuffnut and quickly got on their dragons and set off to find the two boys as it started to rain.

"They have to be down there somewhere. What was Snotlout thinking?" Hiccup wondered.

"He wasn't. He's in love." Astrid answered, switching for a tone used for babies. "He'd do anything for his big hunk of bone-crushing love."

"Well, we'd better find them before they find the Scauldron." Hicca said.

Ahead of the group, Bonecrusher kept a sharp eye out at sea for his new foe, while Snotlout was starting to get nervous every second they were out on their own looking for the Scauldron, though the Jorgenson boy would never admit it. "Just think, Snotlout, at any moment, the giant beast will emerge from the water and I will tame him. Or he'll kill you."

That did nothing to help the shorter boys nerves. "Ha! You're funny, TB." He gave another fake laugh. "Listen, let me throw something out there. What if we... I don't know... head back, call it a day, relax at the Great Hall, tell some more really cool stories. You know, I've heard that a Scauldron's hot water blast can rip the scales off of a Screaming Death."

"What gutless fool told you that?" Bonecrusher demanded.

Snotlout did not have a response for that and Bonecrusher hit him on his helmet with his axe handle.

"Nonsense. Thor Bonecrusher cannot return to Berk dragon-less. Negative, Snot-man. I am not leaving these waters without my prize." That's when the Scauldron emerged from the water, catching Bonecrushers' attention. "Aha! Time to engage my quarry." He then hit Snotlout again with the axe handle. "Dive, dragon, dive!"

Hookfang complied and dove straight for the other dragon with Snotlout hanging on his dragons' horns for dear life. "Aah! My super-Viking's gone rogue!"

"Fire!" Bonecrusher demanded. The Monstrous Nightmare blasted a series of fireballs, which the marine dragon was able to avoid all but one which hit it in the face.

"Okay, that ought to do it, right, TB?" The black haired boy said with hope. But Bonecrusher wasn't satisfied as he jumped off Hookfang and landed right on the neck of the Scauldron. This caused the dragon to fire a water blast, which Hookfang avoided just in time but doing so caused his rider to fall off the saddle and into the ocean.

"Uhh! Dance, big boy."

That's when the other dragon riders caught up to them. "There they are! Come on!" Hiccup ordered.

The four additional riders flew around the Scauldron as it tried to shake off Bonecrusher. "Uhh! Easy, now, big fella." He grunted. On jerky movement took him by surprise causing him to let go of the axe which fell in the ocean.

Looks like Stoick will be looking for a new axe...

In the ocean, Snotlout was struggling to keep his head above water. "Help... me!" He called out.

Astrid spotted him. "Snotlout's in the water!" She yelled.

"Astrid, you, Ruff and Tuff go grab him." Hiccup said.

"Hiccup, Raeda and I'll go after Fishlegs." Hicca finished

"Okay." Astrid said nodding. "Stormfly, let's go."

Raeda and the auburn twins flew to the Scauldrons head, where the dragon was still trying to shake off it's unwanted enemy. But Bonecrusher wasn't deterred. In fact, he was getting an adrenaline rush. "Ah! This is what I live for!"

Meanwhile, Astrid and the blonde twins lost sight of Snotlout and tried to find him.

"Keep looking, he must be here somewhere." Astrid ordered Ruff and Tuff, before she split up to cover more area.

"So, how hard do you think we really need to look?" Tuffnut asked his twin. "I'm thinking some passing glances might do the trick."

"Well, the sooner we rescue Snotlout, the sooner we can watch Fishlegs get eaten by the Scauldron." Ruffnut pointed out.

Tuffnut considered that point. "Well, if you put it that way, let's go!"

Back on the Scauldron, Bonecrusher continued to hang on to the Scauldrons' neck. "It would be so much easier if you'd just submit to your new master." He demanded. Hicca, Hiccup and Raeda tried to find a way to get to their friend without being hit by the boiling hot water the Scauldron was spraying at them. The Scauldron then dove down in the water, with the trio and their dragons following right behind. A few minutes later they all emerged out, with Bonecrusher still on the Scauldron. "Got you where I want you."

Meanwhile, having yet to have been rescued, Snotlout was still struggling to stay above water. "Hookfang!" He called out. "Oh, can this possibly get any worse?" He got his answer when he saw the Scauldron, with Bonecrusher still holding on heading his way! "Worse! Way worse!" He yelled as he started swimming in panic. That's when Hookfang swooped in and rescued his rider, both from the waters and from the rogue. "Whoa! Hey. Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you. I will never try to give you away ever again!"

Back above water, the Haddock twins and Raeda have lost sight of Bonecrusher and the Scauldron. "What the…" Hiccup trailed.

"Where did they go."

As if answering her question, the duo in question emerged, still locked in a struggle against one another.

"Guys, watch out!" Hiccup warned as the Scauldron started spraying at them once again. Once again, all three dragons were able to dodge in time. "Come Rae, let's get it's attention."

"Right behind you." The ravenette said to the auburn-haired boy.

They had Toothless and Sparkfire blast at the Scauldron, getting it's attention. Hicca and Midnight took advantage of that and flew close enough to where Bonecrusher was still latched onto its' neck.

"Come on, jump over!" Hicca called out the 'Thor'.

But the blonde teen merely scoffed at that. "Retreat? In my moment of glory? Never!"

Before Hicca could say anything else, the wild dragon suddenly noticed her and Midnight. The female Night Fury quickly got herself and her rider to safety, but they were now too far away to help Bonecrusher.

Finally the Scauldron managed to shake its' opponent off its neck, but then Bonecrusher ended up on its tail instead. The rogue dragon was prepared to give him a water blast when Meatlug suddenly came out of nowhere and head-butted the Scauldron right in the face!

"Yes, Meatlug!" Hiccup cheered. The enraged Scauldron then set its' sights on the Gronckle and went after her. "No, Meatlug!"

"Stop, dragon. I, Thor Bonecrusher, command you to stop." Bonecrusher demanded as he stood on the tail, trying to get its' attention. But it didn't work and Bonecrusher watched as the dragon got closer to Meatlug and got ready to spray her. "No!" Suddenly in that moment, when realising the danger Meatlug was in, the real Fishlegs emerged from within the shell of Thor Bonecrusher, restoring him back to what he once was. His old voice even came back. "No! Not my Meatlug! You leave my dragon alone! No!" He quickly ran to towards the head of the dragon and jumped off towards Meatlug. Luckily for him, the Gronckle caught him just in time. The Scauldron was getting ready to spray again, when it was suddenly trapped in a net, courtesy of Raeda, Astrid, Ruffnut and Tuffnut.

"Just as planned." Raeda said.

Hiccup breathed a sigh of relief, glad that this craziness was over. "That was a little too close."

"Speak for yourself. That was freakin' awesome!" Tuffnut exclaimed.

The Scauldron roared in anger inside the net.

Fishlegs gave his dragon a big hug, and got a lick in response. "Oh, I'm so sorry, girl. I don't know what happened to me. I just... I wasn't myself. Oh, I missed you! Oh!" He then turned to Hiccup. "How did I-"

"Long story. we'll explain later." Hiccup reassured.

"Let's just say that if we ever have to hypnotize you again, we're not going to have Snotlout in the same room." Hicca said.

That said, the Dragon Riders moved to relocate the Scauldron before heading back home, during which Tuffnut decided to add some music for entertainment.

 _Hooligan tribe Won't you come out tonight?_

 _Come out tonight Come out tonight..._

Once they got back to Berk, Hicca and Hiccup went to inform their father of what happened. "So, what happened to the Scauldron?" The chief asked.

"He's been relocated." Hiccup reported.

"And my axe?" The chief then asked, not seeing the weapon in either of his kids hands, like they promised.

"Uh...Also relocated." Hicca admitted

"But what of Thor Bonecrusher?" A villager asked, before Stoick could say anything else.

The whole Bonecrusher fan-club were gathered and waiting for their hero to come and tell all about his latest adventures. They cheered once they saw him land. "Yeah, Bonecrusher!"

"I miss him!"

"Woo!"

Fishlegs got off Meatlug and walked to the crowd when he suddenly tripped and face-planted. He quickly got up, looking at the crowd nervously. "Hello."

The crowd grumbled and dispersed, knowing that their hero was gone. Meatlug, on the other hand, was happy to have her rider back and went to lick him. He responded with a hug.

"You know, Fishlegs, you didn't sneeze once the whole ride home." Hicca pointed out.

"Yeah. And my legs don't itch anymore." Fishlegs stated, once he realised this.

"And Meatlug isn't wearing her saddle." Hiccup noticed.

"Maybe you were never allergic to her, you were allergic to the saddle!" Hicca said.

"But why, all of a sudden, would I become allergic to her saddle?" Fishlegs wondered.

Gobber then walked up to the group. "Well, uh, I've been using a different kind of wax on the saddles." He admitted. He then used his finger and picked out a large chunk of earwax out of his ear, much to the teens and dragons disgust. "Look at that." He then noticed the disgusted looks on the teens and dragons faces. "What? I never run out of the stuff. It's coming out of my ears."

"Looks like you and I need to have _another_ talk on what's sanitary and what's not." Hicca said to the older man.

Fishlegs started sneezing again once he got close to the earwax. "Well... ah-choo! I'm allergic to Gobber's earwax? Ohh. Ha! I am both relieved and disgusted." He said moving away from the man. He turned his head to find Snotlout still sitting on Hookfang, staring at him, looking disheartened? "What? What is it?"

"I'm just thinking of what might have been." He then grabbed Fishlegs' face in his hands. "You broke my heart, Thor. You broke it right in two." With that, he kissed Fishlegs on the cheek and flew off, leaving Fishlegs feeling both confused and disturbed.

"Okay, that was creepy, right?" The blonde boy asked the others, who had the same reaction as him.

"You don't know the half of it." Hiccup said.

"And you're better off not knowing any of it." Hicca added.

"Oh, I miss you, Thor." Snotlout sobbed as Hookfang continued to fly in the air.


	6. Gone Gustav Gone

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything from How To Train your dragon**

 **Chapter 6: Gone Gustav Gone**

The chief of Berserkers, Dagur the Deranged, had his men go back to the site where the Reaper was to pull it back above the water in order to collect anything that could be used against the Berk Dragon Riders.

Savage was overseeing the operation. "Pull! Pull!" Savage commanded. "Keep pulling, you maggots, unless you want to be giant eel chum!" Knowing full well his chief anger, the right-hand man knew that he needs to get the job done as soon as possible.

To his relief, the ship was starting to appear in sight. "The Reaper is starting to surface, sir." He reported to Dagur, who was right beside him.

"I can see that!" Dagur said with irritation, making Savage shrink back.

"Oh, right." He said meekly.

As soon as the Reaper was fully above the water, the Berserker troops climbed aboard and took every trap they could find.

"That's the last of it." One of the soldiers reported as soon as he brought the last trap on the Berserker ship.

"Well, now we have everything of value from the dragon-hunting ship." Savage concluded, examining some of their new weapons.

But Dagur wasn't satisfied. "No. Not everything." Dagur said. He threw a dagger at a drawing pinned on his ships' mast, one which had a drawing of the Dragon Eye.

Oblivious to what his nemesis was up to, Hiccup was in his hut studying the different lenses of the Dragon Eye. Since discovering the information hidden in this device, the Haddock boy wasted no time testing out the different lenses to see what he could find. Normally his twin sister, Hicca, would be there with him, but she and Midnight went to Healer's Island to stock up on essential medical supplies for Hicca's new healer hut that was located right next to Hiccup and Hicca's hut.

Hiccup then turned to his dragon. "Okay, give me a slow burn, bud." He asked. Toothless did what was asked and the image appeared on the wall of the door once again. "Okay, I've seen this before, but what happens if I push…" He pushed one of the buttons on the end of the Dragon Eye and the information on the wall suddenly change. "Cool. Dragon classes. What do you say we check out the Night Fury, bud?"

Toothless yawned, preferring to take a nap over studying anything.

"Try to contain your excitement, would you?" Hiccup said, chuckling.

Hiccup went back to his studies. "Now, Monstrous Nightmare gem plus Night Fury equals... nothing. Okay." That's when Astrid opened the door, causing the images from the Dragon Eye to appear on her instead. "Oh! Astrid class." Hiccup joked with a chuckle.

But Astrid was not in the joking mood at the moment. "Hiccup, we have a problem, a huge problem."

Hiccup quickly became serious. "Dagur?"

"Worse." Astrid replied.

"What could possibly be worse than Dagur?" Hiccup questioned.

His answer came crashing through the door, knocking into Astrid on the way in.

"Gustav!" The younger boy cheered enthusiastically as he got up from where he tumbled in, with Fanghook raising his head.

"Gustav?!" Hiccup exclaimed in shock, definitely wasn't expecting to see the younger boy arriving all the way from Berk.

"Gustav." Astrid confirmed, getting up.

"Gustav, what are you doing here?" Hiccup asked, but quickly rephrased to keep himself from sounding rude. "I... I mean, to what do we owe the pleasure of this visit?"

That's when the other teens, minus Hicca, came to the hut. "Hiccup, did you hear Gustav is…" Snotlout started to say before he noticed their new guest. "Standing right beside you. Perfect." He said unenthusiastically

Tuffnut got a look at the younger boy, who has grown taller over the years. "You're looking a little different there, Guster."

"Yeah, I'm growing a beard." Gustav said proudly, jutting his chin out.

"Really? Let me see." Tuffnut said, getting a closer look at the so-called 'beard'. He scoffed at what he saw. "Ha! Even Ruff has more hair on her chinny-chin-chin than that."

Tuffnut pulled out the single strand of hair which Gustav counted as a beard. This move caught the younger boy off guard and he tripped and tilted the table where Hiccup placed the Dragon Eye on. The object then fell right into Gustav's vision.

"Hey, what's that thing?" The aspiring Dragon Rider wondered, picking it up.

Hiccup tried to grab the Dragon Eye as Gustav started viewing it as a telescope, but was too late because the younger boy got daze because of the sunlight shining through it.

"Oh! Whoa! You see these spots? Some sort of sun sword?" Gustav asked, still in a daze.

"I'll take that." Hiccup said, taking back the Dragon Eye. "No, Gustav, it's not a sun sword."

"It's the Dragon Eye, and it's very old and very fragile." Fishlegs explained.

Gustav wasn't paying attention because he was still seeing spots in vision. He started walking towards the wall which had Toothless prosthetic tail-fins hanging on them. "Whoa, these spots, they're not going away."

 _CRASH!_

"Ow!"

"It isn't something to just be touched." Fishlegs finished with his explanation.

"Relax, Fishlegs, I know what I'm doing." Gustav reassured, even though he was still momentarily blinded by the spots in his visions. He then walked back to the wall he crashed into a few seconds ago.

 _CRASH!_

Fanghook, trying to be helpful, picked up some of the prosthetic tail-fin...and tossed them right on Toothless' head, much to the dragons annoyance.

"Gustav, Gustav, over here." Snotlout called, getting his former protege attention. "Uh, when are you leaving?"

"That's funny, Snotlout, but I'm not leaving. I'm moving here." Gustav declared.

The others gaped in shocked, not expecting to hear that.

Tuffnut then started laughing. "Ha ha! Yeah, yeah, you are. Imagine... he would never…" He looked at Gustav and the others and realised that none of them were laughing. "Wait, he's serious? I'll get the stake and firewood."

Hiccup quickly stopped Tuffnut before he stepped out of the hut. "Oh, hold on, hold on. No one is burning anyone at the stake."

"Hiccup's right." Ruffnut agreed. "Let's just throw him off the cliff."

Hiccup stopped her as well. "Guys, I'm sure there's a simple explanation."

"Please say there's a simple explanation, Gustav." Raeda pleaded.

"Yeah, very simple." Gustav said, finally recovering from the spots in his visions. "By the way, do not look right into that sun sword thing." He warned with a laugh. "Whoo! Anyway, Hiccup and Hicca said when I was ready, I could join the Dragon Riders. Well, I'm ready and I'm here to join. Where's my hut?"

Hiccup mentally face-palmed. This was not the explanation he was hoping to hear. Of all the times his twin chose not to be here…

"Wait a minute, why do I have to watch him?" Astrid questioned.

Since Gustav was adamant about staying here, Hiccup had no choice but to let him stay at least for the time being. But that doesn't mean he can let the younger boy roam around the edge unsupervised, if the past actions were any indications. He needed someone to watch him and that someone was Astrid. So he took her outside the hut with Gustav still inside (hopefully not breaking anything), and asked Astrid to do so.

"Hicca would normally volunteer, but she's not here. I would do it, but I'm making some, just, major breakthroughs with the Dragon Eye."

"So?" Astrid asked.

"Well, Hicca and I did promise him that when the time was right we would train him to be a Dragon Rider. But neither of us thought that said time would be today."

"What am I supposed to do with him in the meantime?" The blonde girl asked.

"I... I don't know. Just keep him occupied."

"Great, so I'm a babysitter." Astrid asked. She wasn't as enthusiastic as Hicca is in spending time with younger kids.

"Babysitter!" Hiccup chuckled. "No, I mean, come one. He's... He's 16. How much trouble could he possibly be?"

They were interrupted by a sudden shriek. The two teens and dragons ran to the source and saw Smidvarg landing next to them looking exhausted. The concerned teens quickly looked over the tired dragon.

"Smidvarg, what is happening?" Hiccup asked.

"Hey, Hiccup, did you know they could do this?" Gustav called from above. "Awesome!"

Turns out that the younger boy had flew out of the hut on Fanghook and decided to explore their new home in the air. While exploring, they came across Smidvarg and the Gang. Not familiar with the boy or dragon, therefore not knowing whether they were a threat or not, the Night Terrors used their defense mechanism against the duo. But rather than being scared, the boy got excited at seeing that and decided to fly Fanghook to see what would happen. He then repeated this action multiple times, much to the dismay of the Night Terrors.

Hiccup turned to Astrid. "Please? I just need more time. At least until Hicca comes back."

Astrid sighed in defeat. "Fine!" She turned to where the boy and dragon in questione were flying. "Gustav, arena, now."

The boy immediately directed his dragon to fly in the direction of the Arena. Astrid got on Stormfly and followed them, leaving Hiccup, Toothless and Smidvarg.

The auburn boy turned to the Night Terror, who was still resting after the recent encounter. "By the way, your timing... impeccable."

Since she was left to babysit Gustav, Astrid decided to make it productive for both of them. She and Stormfly could train and Gustav and Fanghook could learn more about air combat. She started off with a lecture. But Gustav's mind seemed to be somewhere else, specifically imagining a romantic flight with Astrid, where the blonde girl was praising him.

"Gustav!" Astrid called, snapping the boy out of his daydream.

Gustav blinked before speaking. "Oh hey Astrid. I was just dreaming-"

"Uh-uh-uh, don't creep me out." Astrid said quickly. She has seen that awestruck look from Snotlout way too many times to now what Gustav was thinking of. "You're gonna help with target practice. Do you think you can handle that?"

He immediately straightened up and saluted. "Oh, I can handle that." He said with a wink obviously seeing this as a chance to impress Astrid.

"Ugh." Astrid muttered. Never let Snotlout take in another protege ever again. "When I say throw, you throw." She got on Stormfly and took to the skies. Gustav sat on his saddle with the target in his hands, watching in awe as the two girls performed some very clever tricks.

"She sure is something, isn't she, Fanghook?" He said to his dragon. The Monstrous Nightmare snorted in agreement, only he wasn't looking at Astrid, he was looking at Stormfly.

Once Astrid had Stormfly fly towards the boy and dragon duo, did she give Gustav the signal. "Okay, Gustav, throw!" Unfortunately the boy was still too starstruck to listen and he kept the target in his hands. The blue Nadder, not realising that the target was not where it's supposed to be, shot her spines right at Gustav and Fanghook! Thinking quickly, Astrid grabbed her axe and threw it at the line of spines, deflecting them just in time. But doing so caused the spines to fly off in different directions, a few of them right at Stormfly. Being caught off-guard, the Nadder tried to dodge, but Astrid did not have a good enough grip on her saddle and was flung right into Gustav and Fanghook.

Gustav saw this as a chance to be a hero in Astrids' eyes and reached out his hands to catch her. But instead, she crashed into him and knocked off Fanghook and into the ground with her.

"Hi." Gustav said with another wink.

Astrid immediately got up. "Okay, definitely creeped out."

She doesn't know when Hicca will return, but she certainly will not wait

"Wow! Nice place you got here, Rae." Gustav said as he walked in, causing the Henderson girl to look up from her table and see the boy walking into her new art shop/blacksmith.

"Gustav, I thought you were with Astrid." The raven haired girl said.

"Actually she dropped me here and told me to help you out." He explained.

"Well thanks but no thanks. Right now I need to finish with these decorative swords before Johann comes to take them to Berk." She said, lining up one of said swords with three others on the table.

That got Gustav excited. "Oh, you're making weapons! That so cool I want to try." He said going to the fire that was set next to the table.

"Actually Gustav, it's not that easy. You need to know-"

"Light 'em up, Fanghook." Gustav ordered, ignoring Raeda's warning.

Before the older girl could stop him, the Monstrous Nightmare blasted the furnace, but with a little too much fire then needed, causing the teens to move back. Luckily Sparkfire grabbed a trough of water and threw it at the fire before it could spread.

Raeda gave a sigh of relief...until she saw that the four swords she put on the table melted because of the fire.

"I'm telling you, if you get five boars, you can stack them on top of each other. That's a four-boar stack…" Tuffnut said to his sister as they walked outside. He stopped, however, when he and his sister noticed Gustav and Fanghook in their path, the boy grinning proudly at them. "Aah!"

Feeling weary of the grin, Tuffnut turned to his twin. "What's he smiling about?"

"I don't like it." Ruffnut said.

"Whatever he's selling, I'm not buying." Her twin agreed.

"Yeah. We don't want your cookies!" Ruffnut said to Gustav.

"Hey, guys. Raeda dropped me off, told me to help out around here. Or at least that's what I think she wanted me to do." Gustav said.

After the little incident at the workshop, Raeda just brought Gustav to this spot and simply told him to "do something here." Unbeknownst to the younger boy, she was doing her best to keep herself from saying or doing something that she would regret.

"Yeah? So? What's it to us?" Ruffnut asked.

"You know that big hole under your hut? Filled it in." Gustav happily informed them.

It took the twins a second to realise what hole Gustav was talking about. "Oh, no. He doesn't mean...Oh!" They both ran to the exact place under their hut and saw that indeed the hole was covered with rocks. But it wasn't just a big hole, it was Ruffnut and Tuffnut's boar-pit!. "He filled in the boar pit. He filled in the boar pit!" Tuffnut exclaimed. He then dropped on his knees and started sobbing. "Who fills in a boar pit? What kind of sick monster would fill in a boar pit? It's a boar…"

Gustav, who was feeling confident about his deed a second ago, became uneasy when he saw the way Tuffnut reacted. He moved to a hand on Tuffnut's shoulder when Ruffnut swatted it away. "Hey, back off! Haven't you done enough?"

The younger boy decided to walk away before the blonde twins decided to get their revenge, even though he didn't understand why.

Gustav and Fanghook then decided to hang out Fishlegs and Meatlug instead. The Ingerman boy figured that the duo would benefit from meditation, therefore, brought them to his new meditation garden to do so.

They went to the middle of the river in the garden, standing on the rocks there. Fishlegs clapped his hand, giving Meatlug the signal to fire a lava blast into the river, sending steam upwards.

"This... This feels weird, Fishlegs." Gustav said, as he and Fishlegs had their arms raised.

Fishlegs kept his eyes closed. "Trust me, Gustav, this is exactly what you need. You're not centered, you're all over the place. Just breathe in, breathe out. Focus on avoiding all conflict. Breathe in, breathe out."

Gustav decided to follow the instructions, even though he still felt weird. Curious, Fanghook decided to do the same as well. Unfortunately, he accidentally breathed fire on the flowers. Quickly he tried to extinguish it, only to make it worse.

Fishlegs opened his eyes to find the flowers in front of him burnt to crisp. "Aah! My topiaries!"

After that failed meditation with Fishlegs, Gustav and Fanghook then decided to hang out with Snotlout and Hookfang instead. It went as well as it did with the others and soon enough, Snotlout brought his former protege back to Hiccup and Hicca's hut.

"I have had enough of you, Gustav! Stay. Stay." Snotlout commanded.

Gustav, however, was looking at Snotlout's helmet, which caught on fire. "Uh, Snotlout, your head-"

"Stop! I'm not falling for that again." Snotlout said adamantly.

That's when he noticed his helmet on fire. Screaming he quickly jumped off a nearby ledge, into the ocean, extinguishing the fire.

Gustav meanwhile, went into Hiccup and Hicca's hut, hoping to find the Haddock girl there. He always did like spending time with Hicca. She would definitely let him hang out with her for more than five minutes. "Hello? Hicca? Hiccup?" He called out, only to find the hut empty of the older teens and their dragons. With the hut empty, Gustav decided to stay there and wait for someone to come. At least he wouldn't be sent somewhere else. He decided to look at some more things in the hut, but in doing so he accidently knocked down a prosthetic tail-fin on the wall. "Aah!" He then backed up, but accidently tripped over the chest that was behind him, knocking over the contents. Quickly, the younger boy tried to put everything back before someone came into this hut. He paused, however, when he noticed the contents of the chest. "Huh. What have we here?" He grabbed one of the contents, which was a spare prosthetic leg, and pretended to be Hiccup. "Gee, Gustav, there must be a simple explanation for you being here."

Fanghook started laughing at his riders' antics.

The human spoke in a normal tone. "Well, yeah, Hiccup, because I'm awesome." He went back to imitating Hiccup. "You are awesome, Gustav. Definitely ready to be a Dragon Rider."

Gustav was so busy enjoying his little game of pretend that he didn't see Fanghook's wing before accidentally stepping on it. Taken off guard and angered by this, the Monstrous Nightmare lit himself on fire, causing one of the tail-fins on the wall to catch fire!

Now panicking, Gustav quickly ran to the wall to try to put out the flame using the prosthetic leg. That failed when the leg went through the torn up tailfin. "Oh, no. Oh, no." Panicking even more, Gustav mentally scrambled to find a good explanation for Hiccup when something caught his attention. The Dragon Eye, which was left on the table, projected and image of a map on the wall thanks to Fanghook's flames. That got Gustav excited. "Oh, yes! Is that... a treasure map? Oh, Fanghook, we are so in!"

Soon the duo arrived at the island in the Dragon Eye. The boy was filled with excitement. Once he shows the others the treasure he brought on his own, he will prove to them that he is a competent dragon rider, who should be given a place in their team. He and Fanghook landed at the entrance of the cave, with the human bringing out a map from his satchel his made which is identical to the one shown in the Dragon Eye. "That's it, Fanghook, just like the Dragon Eye said. All we gotta do now is find the cave, grab the treasure, and guess who's gonna get his own hut on Dragon's Edge? A-Gustav!"

But before either boy or dragon could set foot in the cave, the ground started shaking with rocks falling from the ceiling.

Gustav looked at his dragon once the shaking stopped. "Uh, I'm not worried. Are you worried?" Fanghook snarled in response. They need to be in high alert in this cave.

The entered the cave with caution but were unable to see because it was poorly lit.

"Fanghook? Flame up." Gustav ordered. The Monstrous Nightmare set himself on fire, lighting up the cave. "Which way do we head?

He checked the map, but before he could figure it out, the cave shook once again, causing Gustav to lose his grip on the map and for the piece of parchment to catch Fanghook's fire.

"Oh! Ah!" Quickly, Gustav tried to extinguish the fire, only to make it worse. The map got burned to ashes. But that boy wasn't deterred in his mission. "Good thing we brought this along. Fanghook?" His dragon gave another flame showing the same map on the cave walls. "I think we go this way. It says it's just up this way. He started walking around, not paying attention to the cracks on the ground. The cave shook once more, causing the cracks to expand and break apart. Gustav was about to fall in, but Fanghook was quick to save his human and pull him to safety. "

Oh, whoops!" He said with a nervous chuckle. "Whew! Ahh. Huh?" He looked in his hand and saw that the Dragon Eye was gone! Eyes widening and frantically looking around, Gustav found it rolling towards a big hole in the middle of the cave. "No, no, no, no!" He ran as fast as he could to grab it before it falls, and he succeeds.

Unfortunately for the boy, he didn't stop himself in time and started falling into the hole. Thankfully, he grabbed onto the ledge. "Whew. A little help here, Fanghook? A little help?" He called out. Help was then given to him as he was pulled up. However, the boy's moment of relief was short-lived when he saw exactly who helped him. "Hiccup!"

It was indeed the Haddock boy. He returned to his hut not long after Gustav left for the treasure, and instantly knew there was something amiss, considering Gustav didn't bothered to clean up his mess. The auburn boy quickly learned of the days events. Once he realised the Dragon Eye was missing, he put two and two together and realised where the younger teen went. It didn't take long to find the place since he's already been there before.

Which brings him to the cave staring at the boy in question, looking less than happy with the stunt he pulled.

"I can explain…"

Hiccup and Toothless wasted no time bringing Gustav and Fanghook back to the edge. It was night-time when they got back. The four of them went straight to the clubhouse, which was a mini-version of the Great Hall, where the others were, still without Hicca.

"Of all the irresponsible, insubordinate…" Hiccup went off, still mad at Gustav. There was no way he was going to let the boy off for the stunts he pulled.

"Don't forget idiotic, imbecillic, inane." Tuffnut cut in, earning deadpanned looks. "What? I've heard a lot of words for stupid. I mean, come on, people say that more than my proper name."

"Not now, Tuff." Raeda told the blonde boy.

Not in the mood to listen to Tuffnut, Hiccup turned his attention back to the guilty party. "Of all those kinds of stunts you could have pulled, this was the worst! Do you know what Dagur would do to get his hands on the Dragon Eye?"

"I just thought if I came back here with the treasure, you guys would accept me." Gustav explained.

That did not do anything to dissuade Hiccup. "First of all, there is no treasure. Second of all, we've already been there. And that entire island is honeycombed with the most unstable caverns we've ever encountered."

"I'm sorry, I just…" Gustav tried to say.

"You could've been killed, Gustav! Fanghook could've been killed!" Hiccup continued. "Look, this isn't Berk, Gustav. The rules are different out here. You have to be smarter than this."

"I just wanted to prove myself." Gustav said weakly.

"Oh, you have." Hiccup said. "You have proven that you are not responsible enough, you're not mature enough and you're not trustworthy enough to be one of us. Now, it's been a long day. We all need some rest. We'll talk about this in the morning."

He left with the others following.

Dejected from the days event, Gustav and Fanghook stayed at the Dragon Stables, where the former was feeding fishes to the dragons.

"'Talk about it in the morning.'" Gustav mocked. "Like there's anything left to say." Fanghook gave a growl as he ate the fish. "That's right! It's not fair. I did everything they asked. I shoveled dragon poop for two years without a single complaint! For what? So they can tell me I'm not good enough?! Well, I am good enough. We're good enough."

He gave the last of the fishes to his dragon and got up to get his saddle. "And someday they'll find that out, but it'll be too late. We're leaving." He quickly fastened the saddle back on the Monstrous Nightmare and took off, not looking back.

A few hours later and they were still flying, not really paying attention to where they were going. "They're gonna be so sorry when they wake up in the morning and see that we're gone." Gustav ranted. "Once they realize that we're missing, they're gonna be begging us to come back to Dragon's Edge. Those huts were lame anyway.I can't wait to get back to my-"

He was cut off when he saw a net flying right at him and Fanghook!

"Whoa! Fanghook, dive!" Quickly, the Monstrous Nightmare was able to avoid the net. "Ha ha! Missed!" Gustav cheered... only for him and Fanghook to get captured by another net! "Aah!"

With his wings bounded by the net, Fanghook fell from the sky and landed right into a ship, which just happens to be a Berserker ship!

"We captured a Dragon Rider." Savage reported to Dagur.

The Berserker chief gave out a laugh, happy with the sudden success. "Which one is it? Oh, I sure hope it's brother Hiccup or sister Hicca. Or I suppose one of the two other girls would work, too."

"Which two other girls?" Savage asked.

"There's more than three?" Dagur questioned, genuinely confused. The net was removed and Gustav and Fanghook were held by the Berserker soldiers. Dagur looked at his new prisoner. "This is not one of Hiccup and Hicca's Dragon Riders. Who are you?" He demanded from the boy.

"Larson, Gustav Larson. And that's all you're getting out of me." Gustav said with confidence.

"Hmm." Dagur said before shrugging. He didn't seemed to bothered by the boy since he wasn't part of the Berk Dragon Riders. "Fine, feed him to the eels."

The confidence quickly left Gustav and he struggled to find something that would save him. "But I know Hiccup and Hicca, I know the Dragon Riders, and I have information!" He said quickly.

Dagur signalled his soldiers to stop. "Oh? What kind of information?"

"I can get you the Dragon Eye." The younger boy said, remembering what Hiccup said about Dagur wanting said object.

"And what's the Dragon Eye?" Dagur asked, not knowing the named the Haddock twins coined for it.

Gustav looked around, thinking of a way to describe the object. He then saw an exact drawing of it pinned to the mast. "That. That's the Dragon Eye."

Dagur's eyes lit up after seeing what Gustav meant. "Oh." He then gave a maniacal laugh, happy at a new way to get back at the Dragon Riders and retrieve the precious Dragon Eye.

Dagur, with Savage in tow, took his new 'accomplice' to the cabin of a ship, where food was already laid out on the table. The younger boy, who hasn't eaten anything since arriving at the Edge, helped himself.

"So, are you enjoying your meal?" Dagur asked, sitting on the opposite side of Gustav with Savage standing by his side.

"Mm-hmm. Mmm!" Gustav nodded, with food still in his mouth.

"Good. Good, good, good, good, good. So, here's the plan." Dagur said. "We'll draw Hiccup, Hicca and the Night Furies into the open."

"Actually Hicca and Midnight are gone somewhere else. Not sure where though." Gustav interrupted.

"Fine then, I guess just Hiccup will do." Dagur conceded. "We'll draw Hiccup and his Night Fury, neutralize the other riders and seize the Dragon Eye by lethal force, as if there is any other type of force. I mean, really, come on." He chuckled. "Then the Dragon Eye will be mine."

"Yeah, that's one way to do it. And you might get the Dragon Eye. Or Hiccup could crush you just like every other time you faced off against him." Gustav commented.

Savage raised his sword, ready to attack the boy who dared to make a comment like that, when his leader stopped him. "Mm. You have a better idea, Gustav?"

"Can you hand me the sauce, please?" He asked. Dagur did so, though mildly annoyed. "I do, one that will guarantee Hiccup delivers the Dragon Eye right to us."

Back at the Edge, the Dragon Riders were up and have realised that Gustav and Fanghook were missing. They were looking all over the island, hoping to find the duo.

"Anything?" Hiccup asked the others as they regrouped.

"I checked the clubhouse, your hut, even the stables. He's not there." Astrid reported.

"He's not in the Academy, the forge or Hicca's healer hut." Raeda stated.

"Nothing else is on fire around here, so he must be gone." Fishlegs observed.

"Well, we have to find him." Hiccup said, still determined.

"Or... do we?" Tuffnut questioned.

"Yeah, why are we worried?" Snotlout agreed. "Shouldn't we be celebrating the fact that he's gone?"

"Not until we know he's safe." Hiccup said. "Hicca will kill us if she found out. And when I say 'if' I mean 'when'."

"Well, we could ask Fanghook." Ruffnut suggested.

Snotlout scoffed at that. "And, Ruffnut, how do you suppose we do that?"

"Turn around." Ruffnut answered smugly.

The others turned and saw that indeed, the Monstrous Nightmare in question was flying right towards them, feeling anything but calm.

"Fanghook, where's Gustav, boy? Where's Gustav?" Tuffnut tried asking, only for Fanghook to roar and light himself on fire in response. "Ah! He's not talking, you guys. He's completely shut down. Typical."

Hiccup approached the dragon slowly, trying to get him to calm down. "Hey, hey, Fanghook. Hey, it's okay." He soothed, causing Fanghook to simmer down. "Easy, boy, easy." As soon as the dragon doused off his flames, Hiccup moved to check up on him. "Well, doesn't look like he's injured."

"But he's definitely upset." Fishlegs noted. That's when he saw the note attached to the dragons' horn. "You guys, look."

Hiccup took the note and read it. His face turned grim as he read the contents. "Dagur. He wants to make a trade. The Dragon Eye for Gustav."

After reading the instructions and finding the location on the map, Hiccup got on his saddle on Toothless, ready to leave. The note specifically wanted Hiccup to come and not any other rider.

"I don't like this, Hiccup." Astrid said.

"There's no doubt Dagur is setting you up for a trap." Raeda said.

"Well, we have no choice." Hiccup said to the two girls.

"You sure we have no choice? Like, none? Zip? Zilch?" Tuffnut asked.

"This is all my fault anyway." Hiccup stated.

"Ninguno?"

"I never even gave the kid a chance." Hiccup continued trying to ignore Tuffnut.

"Ni Portugal?"

"Tuff, that's really not helping at all."

Strangely, Tuffnut agreed. "Yeah."

"If I wasn't so busy tinkering with this thing, I don't know, maybe I could've kept him busy." Their leader finished.

"Uh, yeah, nobody can keep Gustav busy." Fishlegs said.

"Except Hicca, and still do her studies at the same time. So we really have no excuse." Raeda said.

"At least let us back you up out there." Astrid requested to Hiccup.

"Dagur was very clear. I have to come alone." Hiccup said. "We don't know what he'll do to Gustav if I don't follow his demands to the letter."

"We know what he's capable of doing." Raeda said.

"Exactly, we can't risk it. I'll be careful, I promise." Hiccup reassured the blonde girl though it didn't really help. If Hicca returns while I'm gone, let her know what happened. Dagur never said anything about her not allowed to be there."

With that Hiccup took off, towards the location, hoping to rescue the aspiring dragon trainer from the clutches of the Berserker chief, with Fanghook already flying ahead to find his rider.

Soon they arrived at the Ship Graveyard and found the Berserker ship.

"There!" Savage spotted.

Gustav was ecstatic to see his dragon come back to him. "Fanghook! Oh. I was worried about you, boy." He exclaimed, hugging his dragon.

"Aww, dragon and Dragon Rider love. Makes me want to hurl." Dagur sneered. "Blech!"

Hiccup and Toothless were not far behind. Toothless was the first to spot the boy. "Yeah, I see 'em, bud." They landed on the ship. "Gustav, are you okay?" The boy nodded in response. Dagur walked towards Hiccup. "That's close enough, Dagur." Hiccup warned with Toothless growling for emphasis.

The Berserker chief feigned hurt. "Oh, wow. Where's the trust. After all we've been through together? No?" Hiccup just glared at him, remaining silent. "Nothing? No Hiccupy barbs, quips, snappy comebacks? But I really love those. We've developed such a nice shorthand, you and I."

"Dagur, let's just get on with this." Hiccup interrupted. "Send them over."

"You first." Dagur countered. Hiccup was reluctant. "You have no choice. One false move and my men will take out you, the Night Fury and the kid! So roll it over and I'll let him go." Realizing that Dagur was right, Hiccup took out the Dragon Eye, placed it on the ground and rolled it over to him.

The older man picked up the object and inspected it. "Oh. It... It really is one beautiful artifact. And I hear it can be very useful to those who possess it? Hmm? Is that true?"

Hiccup chose not to answer it and went to Gustav. "Gustav, let's go. It's okay."

But Gustav simply looked at Dagur and then turned back to Hiccup with a smirk.

"Yeah, about that, Hiccup." Gustav started. "I've been treated much better by these guys than I ever was treated by you and the Dragon Riders."

Dagur laughed at that. "Ooh! And the plot thickens."

"Gustav?" Hiccup questioned, hardly believing his eyes and ears. This couldn't be possible. Gustav wouldn't do this. Were they that bad that Gustav would to side with someone like Dagur.

"You could've given me a chance, you know? All you guys ever did was tell me I wasn't good enough, tell me I didn't belong. Well, I belong here." The younger boy continued.

"Gustav, you have no idea what you're getting into!" Hiccup pleaded.

"Oh, yes, I do, Hiccup. I know exactly what I'm doing." Gustav said with full confidence.

"Awkward!" Dagur said in a sing-song voice, causing Hiccup to glare at him. "Well, I'd say your work is finished here, brother. Ordinarily, this is where I would double-cross you and fill you full of arrows. But the kid is squeamish. He made me promise to let you go, and in return, he's gonna take me to a treasure."

That brought confusion to Hiccup. Treasure...

"That's right, Hiccup." Gustav said, stepping in. "We have the Dragon Eye and Fanghook's fire. And you know what that means. Untold treasure awaits."

Unbeknownst to Dagur or any of his soldiers, Gustav gave Hiccup and wink and the auburn teen realised what the hidden plan was and really, he had to admire the boy for this courageous yet risky plan. It is definitely something that he or his sister would come up with.

With that in mind, Hiccup played along. "You are going to regret this."

"I don't think so, Hiccup." Gustav retorted with a smirk.

Taking a pause, Hiccup got on Toothless and flew off. With one last look back at the ship, Hiccup led Toothless to their next destination.

With Hiccup gone, Gustav started playing with Fanghook while Dagur watched. "You know, I'm actually going to feel bad when I kill this kid." He said to Savage in a voice low enough that Gustav couldn't hear.

There was no way he was going to split the treasure with that little punk from Berk.

The ship soon docked the same island from earlier with Dagur, Gustav, Fanghook, Savage and some of the other soldiers setting foot on land.

"This is it." Gustav said, but he didn't make a move to go inside.

"Why are we stopping?" Dagur asked, getting impatient.

"No reason." Gustav answered with a shrug. "I was just kind of impressed that you trusted your men enough to show them exactly where the treasure is hidden." He then spoke in a lower voice. "Especially when there's so much of it."

Gustav's words seemed to have gotten to Dagur, because he turned to his men. "Stay here." He ordered.

"Why?" Savage questioned.

"Oh, uh, let's see, uh…" Dagur pretended to think. "I don't know. Maybe because... I SAID SO!"

That was enough to get the soldiers to stay where they were. "Oh, good idea, sir. We'll stay here." Savage said meekly.

Dagur caught up to Gustav inside the cave and handed him the Dragon Eye. "Fanghook, slow burn." The boy said, holding the object close to his dragons' mouth.

The dragon did so and Dagur's eyes widened as he saw what was projected on the wall. "Ah, I see. You outdid yourself, Hiccup. I love this thing."

Suddenly the ground started shaking for a minute, much to Dagur's alarm. "Uh, so, does that happen a lot?"

"You get used to it." Gustav answered nonchalantly, before leading the way.

"Are we there yet?" Dagur asked when they were a few minutes into the path.

"We're close, very close." Gustav said, recognising the area.

"Good, that's what I wanted to hear." Dagur said with a low chuckle. He approach the boy, about to draw out his sword, when Gustav suddenly turned around used that Dragon Eye to blind the chief the same way he got blinded by it earlier.

Dagur shouted. "Aah! Aah! Oh, bright light, bright light, bright light!" He recovered faster than Gustav did and quickly went in search for the boy, who seemed to have disappeared. "Come out, come out, wherever you are!" His eyes went to one of the boulders ahead, which had a bright light glowing from behind.

Gustav, who was hiding behind the boulder with Fanghook, was trying to cover the Dragon Eye to block the bright light. He peered over the boulder and saw that Dagur was gone. Breathing a sigh of relief, he turned back, only to find the Berserker chief right in front of him!

"Gotcha!" He exclaimed, getting his sword ready.

"No... we've got you." A familiar voice said. But it wasn't Hiccup.

"Hicca!" Gustav explained, surprised to see her.

The Haddock girl and her dragon did come back while Hiccup was gone and the others immediately told her what had happened. As soon as she heard the whole thing, she and Midnight took off. Their first priority was to get the two boys and dragons to safety. Then once assured they are out of danger, the auburn girl was going to have a stern talk with everyone, because Gustav shouldn't be here by himself and _seriously_ seven grown vikings who have overcome dangerous missions in the past couldn't keep an eye on one boy and dragon.

So she and Midnight soon caught up with Hiccup and Toothless once they left the ship and all four of them went to the caves with the girls brought in on the plan.

"Glad to see your safe Gustav." Hicca said, smiling at the younger boy.

"Good work, Gustav." Hiccup praised. He then turned to their enemy. "Oh, what's the matter, Dagur? No barbs, no comebacks? I thought we had a shorthand, I thought you loved that stuff." He mocked, causing the others, except Dagur to laugh.

Angered at being tricked, the Berserker chief lunged at Gustav and before the others could react, he snatched the Dragon Eye and tossed the boy away. Luckily Hicca caught him.

"Dagur, you hand over the Dragon Eye." Hiccup demanded.

"I don't think so." Dagur taunted, his smirk returning.

"He wasn't asking." Hicca said. Midnight and Toothless snarled at the Berserker. They both fired at the ground, creating a big hole.

Dagur peered down the hole, pretending to be curious. "Oh. It's a long way down, isn't it?"

"Dagur, you've got nowhere to go. It's over." Hiccup stated.

"It's over? Really?" Dagur questioned. He then dropped that Dragon Eye into the hole. "Whoops."

"Oh, no!" Gustav exclaimed. Then on an impulsive, and impromptu, decision, he dove right after it!

"GUSTAV!" Hiccup and Hicca yelled. Without thinking twice, Hiccup and Toothless flew in after him, with Hicca, Midnight and Fanghook after them.

Dagur laughed at them, his idea going exactly as he wanted it to go.

"Got it!" Gustav yelled as soon as he grabbed the object. He then have new problem; how was he going to stop himself from falling? He looked up and and saw Hiccup and Toothless flying after them. "Hiccup!"

The male Night Fury quickly grabbed the boy and Hicca was able to pull him on her saddle behind her. "We got you, Gustav." He reassured.

"Great! Now let's get out of here." Hicca said from above.

The group flew upwards, but as they were doing that, the ground shook once again, causing a boulder to fall in. Midnight and Fanghook were quick to dodge it, but Toothless, given no warning, was hit on the wing, knocking Hiccup and Gustav off the saddle. With no one to control the stirrup all three of them started falling!

"Aaaah! Toothless!" Hiccup screamed as they fell.

"Oh no!" Hicca yelled in horror.

Both dragons flew in after them once again.

Hiccup tried to get back on the saddle while free-falling. "Don't worry, bud. Hang on, bud!" He said as he tried to go for the saddle. He succeeded just in time and got his prosthetic onto the stirrup. "I'm gonna have to come up with something in case that happens to us again." He said.

But that thought was cut short when he saw Gustav still falling. Fortunately he got rescued in time by his own dragon.

"Fanghook! Yeah!" Gustav cheered. "Thanks, boy."

The cavern shook again and the group went back to their task of finding their way out. The found another passage and quickly flew that way, which brought them to another cavern.

As soon as they were brought to safety, all three humans breathed a sigh of relief.

"You okay?" Hiccup asked Gustav.

"Yeah. Hiccup, I'm really sorry." He said.

"I'm sorry, too, Gustav." Hiccup replied. "You're still irresponsible, immature and reckless, but the way you handled yourself with Dagur, maybe you do have what it takes to be a Dragon Rider... someday."

"Someday?" Gustav repeated. He then grinned. "I will take someday." After the days events, the younger figured it's probably best if he didn't rush it

"I'm glad that all of you are okay." Hicca said. Her voice then turned stern. "However, keep in mind, neither of you are safe from me." Both boys gulped at that. "In fact no one on the edge is safe. When I come back from a three days one of the things I don't like to hear is how aloof and irresponsible you guys have been. Hiccup, we need to talk about the time you spend with the Dragon Eye, because it is not healthy."

The cavern shook once again, cutting her off. "Hey, sis, what do you say you finish this back on the Edge and we find a way out of here?"

"I completely agree." Gustav said, getting on Fanghook and flying off in search for a way out.

"Don't think that because of this you guys are safe. We will have that talk." Hicca promised to her brother.

"I don't doubt that." Hiccup said, getting on Toothless. He was about to follow the younger boy when something on the walls caught his attention.

"What the Thor is this?"

Hicca turned to where her twin was looking and saw a chest in the walls on the cavern. Curiously, she got the chest, but before she could open it, the ground shook again.

"Let's go, guys." Hiccup said.

The four of them took off after Gustav

They found their way out of the cave and with Dagur and the Berserkers long gone, they went back to the edge, meet up with the others in the Academy, and caught them up with what happened.

"Now that that's cleared up." Hicca said, once they finished the story. Her expression turned stern again and the others winced, knowing what was coming. "First things first. Gustav, does your mom actually know your here."

That caught the older teens by surprise as the younger teen smiled sheepishly. "Uh, well, not really. Heh, heh."

Hicca pinched the bridge of her nose. "Gustav, your mom had a talk with you about this. I know she did because she told me. None of us would even think of doing something like this. What if you got captured by Dagur before you reached this place then what?"

"Well, my mom usually notices I've been gone after about three days." Gustav said, trying unsuccessful to come up with a good answer.

"Uh-huh. Well she's is going to find out exactly what you've been up to these past two days, once I drop you off back to Berk." Gustav groaned in protest. "Sorry Gus, but I made a promise to her after the last time. Now let's go."

"Wait." Hiccup said. "I'll drop him of. Hicca you just got back from a three day trip and immediately flew into a fight with Dagur. You should rest. Toothless and I will handle this."

Hicca conceded. She and Midnight actually do want to rest. "Fine, I'll give you two days for this. But be sure to tell his mom what happened. I don't care what Gustav tells you, she needs to know."

"Alright." Hiccup said, getting on Toothless.

"Bye, guys!" Gustav said, as the four of them took off. The others waved to them.

Once they were far away, Hicca turned to the others. "Meanwhile I can have a _nice, good_ talk with you guys on your inability to look after someone."

Snotlout and the Thorston twins groaned at that.

Hicca then went to get the chest from midnight's saddle.

"What's that?" Astrid questioned.

"Just something Hiccup and I found at the bottom of that cave." Hicca answered.

"I thought there was no treasure in those caves." Raeda said.

"I thought so too." Hicca said, opening the chest. None the teens, however, were expecting to see a lens there, looking identical to the one they use for their Dragon Eye.

"Oh, a new lens." Fishlegs said excitedly, looking at their newest acquisition.

"Yeah, the Dragon Eye was giving us clues on how to find it all along. We just weren't looking in the right place." Hicca inferred.

"And if there's one of these out there, that means there has to be more." Fishlegs said, practically vibrating with excitement. "Ooh-hoo-hoo!"

"Huh. And to think, we never would've found that without Gustav." Astrid pointed out.

"Awesome, so let's just tell Gustav." Hicca joked, knowing what the others reactions would be.

Sure enough. "No! No, no, no!"

Hicca just shrugged. "Oh well then. That just brings us to…. Clubhouse, Now!" She demanded, taking the others by surprise. "Did you think I was joking when I said I was going to have a talk with you guys? Come on." She pointed to the direction of the Clubhouse and reluctantly the others went to their dragons.

"And no one tells Hiccup about the new lens for another three days after he gets back."


	7. Reign of the Fireworms

**A/N: This surprisingly took me a lot less time to type up than I though it would.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own anything from How to train your dragon, except my oc's.**

 **Chapter 7: Reign of the Fireworms.**

"Okay, that's 542, 43…" Fishlegs Ingerman counted as he and Meatlug flew by. He then spotted another Night Terror. "Oh, there's one hiding under that tree trunk! I see you, little guy. You're 544." He said, beaming with excitement. "Isn't this exciting, girl? The first annual Dragon's Edge Census. Once we get all these Night Terrors counted, we move on to the Gronckles." He then hugged his dragon excitedly. "Ha ha! Maybe you'll make some new friends."

They then landed and spotted a flock of Night Terrors sleeping. "Okay, there's a big flock." Fishlegs commented before counting. "575, 576…" He was keeping track on a parchment when a Fireworm dragon landed on it. "Oh, hello."

The tiny dragon suddenly set itself on fire, burning the parchment as well, causing Fishlegs to jump back in shock. The Fireworm then flew away. "What is a Fireworm doing this far out?" He asked Meatlug. "They aren't supposed to be anywhere near our island." He then shrugged. "Eh, it could have lost its way." Taking out another parchment, the teen went back to the task at hand. "Now where were we, Meatlug? Was it 576, or was it 675?"

Just as he was trying to remember, Fishlegs and Meatlug both smelled something burning in the air. The duo looked and saw another Fireworm dragon setting a nearby bush on fire! "Whoa! Whoa, whoa." Fishlegs tried to douse out the flames, but in doing so caused his second parchment to catch fire as well. The Ingerman teen immediately dropped it.

After having one too many encounter with the Fireworm dragons, Fishlegs went back and reported his findings. The Dragon RIders then flew back to the clearing which was on fire.

"It began with one Fireworm, and as we were flying back, we kept seeing more and more." He explained.

"Do you think they're migrating?" Astrid inferred.

"If they were migrating, the whole island would be on fire." Hiccup pointed out.

"Not necessarily." Fishlegs started.

"Here we go!" Snotlout said, rolling his eyes.

"When Fireworms migrate, they send out scouts to see if their migration route is safe." He explained.

"If this is a stop along that route…" Hicca started to say.

"An entire flock of Fireworms could be coming through here." Astrid finished.

"Well, I say bring 'em on! I love those little scorchers." Tuffnut said, grinning.

"Are you still gonna love them when they all land here and burn our entire island to the ground?" Raeda asked, crossing her arms.

"Yes!" Tuffnut answered, before thinking over it. "Wait, no. Wait, is that a trick question? Because it's pretty tricky."

Astrid ignored the Thorston boy. "Fishlegs, how much time do we have?"

"Uh, it's hard to say. If it's a full migration, the rest of them could be here as soon as next week." The dragon expert answered.

"Huh, Good to know. It's been nice knowing you, island. Snotlout is outlout!" Snotlout declared.

"We're not abandoning the island, Snotlout." Hiccup stated, stopping his cousin.

"Uh, yeah, we are. Watch." Snotlout turned Hookfang around so that they could leave, only to be stopped by Hicca and Midnight.

"Hiccup's right, we put too much hard work into this place to just leave. Snotlout is not 'outlout'." Hicca said firmly. "We're staying. Now let's get to work."

Annoyed at this, Snotlout reluctantly gave in. "Fine! But I still like my plan better."

The Dragon Riders split up and worked for a few hours to prepare defenses against the Fireworms.

They regrouped back at the Clubhouse.

"Okay, Astrid, you and Fishlegs filled the watering troughs, right?" Hiccup asked.

"Yep! Topped off all the barrels too." Astrid reported.

"Ooh, I found a perfect cave for the Night Terrors. High enough and desolate enough so the flames won't get near them." Fishlegs added.

"Great. Raeda, Snotlout, how are the fire breaks coming along?" Hicca asked.

"Making good progress. If Fishlegs prediction of when the Fireworms arrive are correct, then we should the Edge protected by then." Raeda reported.

"Perfect. Good job, guys." Hicca praised.

"Now if the Thorston twins would finally get back, we could find out what they've done." Hiccup said, looking around for any signs of either of the blonde twins.

"Oh, I can tell you what they've done." Snotlout spoke up. "Zero, zip, zilch. I'm forgetting something. Oh, yeah, goose egg!"

"On contrary, my fine fellow, we have done quite a lot actually." Tuffnut said as he and Ruffnut flew in.

"Did you clear the brush?" Hiccup asked.

"Uh, no." Tuffnut answered.

"Build a fire break?" Hicca asked.

"Nope, not that." Ruffnut said, shaking her head.

"How about water? Did you bring any back?" Astrid asked, even though she had a good feeling what the answer would be.

Sure enough. "Couldn't. Too busy." Tuffnut said.

"Busy with what?!" Hiccup questioned in disbelief.

"Finding something awesome." Ruffnut said.

The Thorston twins, brought the other teens and dragons to one of the cliff which had a big rock.

"Behold! We call it the Namey Rock." Ruffnut prevented.

"And why is that?" Astrid asked, feeling exasperated that the blonde twins were getting excited over a rock of all things.

"Duh, 'cause it has our name all over it. Cool, huh?" Tuffnut asked.

"Oh, yeah." Snotlout said sarcastically, also feeling annoyed. "I mean, no. Man, you two are completely ridiculous."

But neither twins were fazed by this. "Ridiculous? Perhaps. But answer me this... where's your Namey Rock?" Ruffnut challenged, putting a finger to the back of her ear to wait for Snotlout's answer. The boy in question didn't bother dignifying that with a response.

Feeling curious, Fishlegs went to the so-called 'Namey Rock' and read it's contents. His eyes widened as he read it. "Uh, Hiccup, Hicca, you two might want to come take a closer look at this." Confused, the auburn twins went to check out the rock. "I think it's a claim stone."

"I, Magmar Thorston, hereby claim this island in my name and the name of all my family present and future, forever and ever." Hiccup read out-loud.

"And what else?" Tuffnut asked, feeling smug.

"'And ever,' apparently." Hicca said.

Tuffnut then recognised the name of the owner of the claim stone. "Ha! Long-lost great Uncle Magmar! Oh, my Thor! Wasn't he the one who could pass an entire cod through one nostril?"

"And debone it at the same time?" Ruffnut recalled with a look of admiration on her face. "It's really a lost art."

"It's lost for a good reason." Raeda said, trying her best not to picture it.

"People just don't appreciate the craftsmanship." Tuffnut grumbled, crossing his arms.

Snotlout was in disbelief of the whole thing. "Oh, come on! That stone is a fake. It's so obvious that these two made it up." He gestured to Ruffnut and Tuffnut.

"I don't think so! For one thing, everything is spelled correctly." Fishlegs pointed out.

"Also I doubt Ruff and Tuff would know how a claim stone works." Hicca added.

"Okay, you two may have a point." Snotlout couldn't help but admit. Doesn't mean that he liked it.

"Let me get this straight. These two own this island?" Astrid asked, gesturing to the Thorston twins. She really hoped that her ears were deceiving her.

"It would appear that way." Fishlegs reluctantly admitted.

"Oh boy." Raeda muttered.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut were the only ones happy about this discovery. In fact, they were ecstatic. They started dancing around.

"Yeah! In your face!" Tuffnut exclaimed.

"We are so in charge of this place!" Ruffnut gloated. "Whoo-hoo!"

"Oh, preach, sister." Tuffnut preached.

"Well! According to this stone…"

Her twin put a hand on her mouth, cutting her off. "That was a rhetorical preach." He then noticed Snotlout getting on Hookfang. "Hey, where are you going, subject?"

"Ha! You may be in charge of this island, but you're not in charge of me." Snotlout retorted.

"Ah, ah! Respect the crown." Tuffnut warned. "Don't make us get ugly."

"That ship sailed a long time ago. Ugly!"

"Clearly, we'll need a dungeon." Tuffnut said, glaring at Snotlout.

Hicca tried to diffuse the situation. "Okay, let's all just take a breath and calm down."

"The first thing we need to do is get this claim stone authenticated." Hiccup said.

The Haddock twins wasted no time getting Stoick and Gobber from Berk. As soon as they came back to the Edge, they made a beeline for the stone.

Gobber took a few minutes to inspect the stone. "Mm-hmm. I see."

"Well, Gobber?"

"Give me a minute." The blacksmith/ dragon dentist said. He chipped off a piece of the stone and sniffed. "Very interesting." Then to the others surprise and disgust, he ate the piece. "Tastes right to me, Stoick. This claim stone is 100% authentic."

The Thorston twins resumed their victory dance.

"Aw, yeah!" Ruffnut cheered.

"Authentic!" Tuffnut exclaimed.

"100%! No more percents to be had, folks."

"That's good, right?"

But the others were not as enthusiastic about this report and started voicing their complaints.

"All right, that's enough!" Stoick shouted, getting everyone to quiet down. He then sighed. He dreaded saying this, but there was no way he couldn't not do this. "It looks like this island officially belongs... to the Thorston twins."

Once again the blonde twins started dancing.

"It's our island now! We got the island." Tuffnut sang.

"We got an island! And you can't have it." Ruffnut sang.

"Ahem!" Stoick said loudly, clearing his throat. Understanding what they need to do, Ruff and Tuff kneeled down in front of the Berkian chief. The older man unsheathed his sword.

"Is this actually happening." Raeda whispered to Hicca.

"I'm afraid so." Hicca whispered back.

"As Chief of Berk, I hereby declare that under Viking law, the living heirs to Magmar Thorston are indeed entitled to full ownership of this island with all the benefits that comes with it." Stoick declared, tapping to blade of his sword on the blonde twins shoulders.

"Now what?" Tuffnut asked, once the chief finished.

"Don't ask me. It's your island." Stoick said, placing the sword back in its sheath.

And cue the singing once more.

 _This is our island_

 _It's not your island._

 _You cannot have it!_

 _Because it's ours_

Hiccup stopped his dad and Gobber before they left back to Berk. "Now, Dad, Dad, Dad, you can't be serious."

"You're not leaving us with this, are you?" Hicca pleaded.

"Uh, yes, I am. Welcome to my world." Stoick said. As long as those two muttonheads weren't on his island, he doesn't have to deal with it.

"Only now it's your world." Gobber said with a chuckle.

"Seriously? Of all the islands in this entire Archipelago, we chose to stay in the one island that these two own?" Raeda asked, once again questioning the kind of luck that they manage to attract.

"Great, what do we do now? Any ideas?" Fishlegs asked, once the two adults were gone.

Snotlout's eyes lit up as he got an idea. "Oh, we could always...You know." He put his thumb across his throat to illustrate his suggestion.

The others understood what he was trying to say.

"We're not killing the Thorston twins, Snotlout." Hicca said firmly.

"Please tell me we're not giving them the island." Astrid pleaded.

"Actually, we are. We are giving them the island." Hiccup admitted reluctantly.

Snotlout started laughing at that, thinking his cousin was only joking. He was the only one to do so. He stopped when he saw Hiccups' serious face and realised it wasn't a joke. "What?"

"First of all, we don't really have a choice." Hiccup said. "And second, once they find out being in charge isn't everything it's cracked up to be, and they have to deal with the Fireworm problem on their own, they will beg us to take the island back."

"And if they don't?" Astrid asked.

Hiccup couldn't come up with an answer, and they watched as the new owners head-butted each other to celebrate.

A few hours after the new island owners were appointed, Hiccup and Hicca were in the Clubhouse with Toothless and Midnight. Both humans were reading while the dragons were sleeping.

"Okay, a little higher." They heard Tuffnut's voice say from outside. "No, no, no, to the left. Yes! No. Little to the right." The Night Furies woke up at the sound of the Thorston boy's voice.

"Would you come on already?" Ruffnut asked from outside. "My entire body is going numb. Feels kinda cool."

Now curious, the Haddock twins got up and went to investigate, just as Tuffnut said, "Hey, let's ask Hiccup and Hicca."

"Let's ask Hiccup and Hicca what?" Hiccup questioned, as he and his twin looked upwards where the Thorston twins were on their Zippleback, holding up a sign in front of the Clubhouse.

"Our new Thorstonton sign." Tuffnut answered. "Does it need to be a little higher?"

"Thorstonton?" Hicca said, reading the sign.

"Yeah, the name of our island." Ruffnut explained.

"It came to us in a dream." Tuffnut said with a dazed looked. He then let go of the sign, making Ruffnut carry the full weight, much to the blonde girls dismay. "That's right... same dream. It's a twin thing. You two understand, right." The auburn twins said nothing as they exchanged looks before looking back up at Tuffnut. The blonde boy continued. "Anyway, thoughts on the sign?"

Unable to hold onto the sign any longer, Ruffnut let go of the sign, causing it to break on the ground.

Her twin didn't seem too bothered by that. "You know what? Never mind. We've got more important things on the agenda today."

"I agree. We need to keep fireproofing the island." Hiccup said, relieved that the new rulers are now thinking of the safety of their island.

"Yeah, we're not going to get much time till the Fireworms arrive." Hicca agreed, thinking the same thing.

However that wasn't the case. "No, no, no, that's not it. We need to give out job assignments." Tuffnut said.

"Job assignments?" Hicca repeated.

"Oh, we got some good ones." Tuffnut said excitedly. "Come along, you two. Don't be late." With that the blonde twins took off, leaving the auburn twins to exchange looks.

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Hicca asked rhetorically, as she and her brother got on their dragons and followed their rulers.

Soon everyone was gathered in the Academy, which was a fireproof dome that can open and close by a lever. Ruffnut and Tuffnut were in the center, assigning the jobs.

"All right, Fishlegs." Tuffnut said, reading a parchment paper. "Says here you are now the official poet laureate of Thorstonton."

"Do you even know what that means?" Fishlegs asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We were hoping you would! It's your job, after all." Ruffnut answered. Fishlegs did not have a response to that.

Tuffnut then turned to Astrid. "Astrid, you are the official royal brush-clearer. We don't want Thorstonton burning down, after all."

"At least the thought has registered to them." Hicca said to her twin.

"Or do we?" Ruffnut questioned, Tuffnut thought about it for a moment, seeming to consider the possibility.

"Nevermind." Hicca said face-palming.

Astrid was indignant about her new task. "I'm not clearing brushes for you two! I'm not clearing anything for you two!"

"Come on, Astrid." Hiccup pleaded. He still believes in his idea that Ruffnut and Tuffnut will give up their power once they see how difficult it is to rule an island.

"We don't really have a choice." Hicca pointed.

"Oh. You'll do it. And you'll like it, little missy." Tuffnut declared firmly, causing the shieldmaiden to glare at him.

He then turned to Snotlout. "Snotlout, you, my friend, have an excellent , sir, are our new sergeant at arms.

The Jorgenson boy thought over his new position. "Mm. I like the sound of that... 'arms'."

"Knew you would. All right, Hiccup and Hicca." Tuffnut then turned to the auburn twins. "You are our new stable boy and girl."

"What?!" Hicca and Hiccup said in disbelief, as Astrid tried and failed to hold back her laugh. Raeda wanted to as well but she knew better since her turn hasn't come up yet.

"Come on, Hiccup and Hicca. We don't really have a choice." Astrid mocked, repeating what the duo said to her.

"And finally Raeda." Tuffnut said, turning to the last girl on the list. "You are going to be the fire girl."

"The what?" Raeda questioned.

"The fire girl. When we ask for a fire, you will make one." Ruffnut explained.

"So, uh, here's a question." Snotlout piped in. "What's a sergeant at arms do, anyway?"

"You enforce the rules." Tuffnut replied. "If someone doesn't follow them, you make sure they do. And if things get really nasty, you show them to the fancy new dungeon and give them some yak dung tea. Got it?"

Snotlout seemed to be the only one happy with his new job. "Dungeon! I like it. Better than 'stable boy.'" He said smirking at Hiccup and Hicca's direction, causing the two to glare at him.

"Okay, and speaking of new rules, without further adieu…" Tuffnut said, putting away his parchment paper.

"Yeah, no more further 'adieus.'" Ruffnut continued, taking out her own parchment paper and unrolled it. "Anyway, rule number one: everyone must bow to your rulers when they enter the room."

Her brother then took the paper and continued reading. "Rule number two: everyone must also bow to your rulers when they exit the room."

Ruff took over reading once again. "Everyone must bow to your rulers when they are in the room."

"So basically we just bow all the time?" Hiccup asked.

"Ooh, stable boy, coming in for the big win." Tuff said. "That deserve a bow... from you."

Hiccup gave an annoyed groaned and, rather reluctantly, bowed to his ruler.

Ruff then continued with the rules. "Next, there will be a small fee for landing your dragons on the island."

"And another small fee for taking off." Tuff added.

"There will be a fee for sleeping."

"A fee for waking up."

"A fee for eating."

"And a small fee for drinking."

"You have got to be kidding me." Raeda said, rubbing her templates.

"How about breathing?" Astrid said sarcastically, crossing her arms.

But the sarcasm was lost to the blonde twins unfortunately. "Good idea! Mark that down." Tuff said to his sister.

"Way ahead of you." His sister said, jotting it down.

"Moving on, the letter 'S' has been officially removed from the alphabet." Tuff declared. "So you're going to want to avoid words like sword."

"Severed leg." Ruff added.

"Severed-head."

"Cyclone!"

"That's actually a 'C.'" Fishlegs corrected.

"Notlout, quiet him!" Tuffnut ordered, not happy at being corrected.

But the boy in question was just confused. "Notlout? Who's Notlout?" Snotlout asked.

"That's you." Hicca told him.

"Do you two realize that there is an 'S' in the name of your island?" Astrid pointed out.

But the two rulers weren't having it. "Ilence, ubject! How dare you ay such thing?" Tuffnut said.

"Any other rules?" Hicca asked, wanting this to be over.

"Yes one more." Ruffnut said, reading over her paper. "Any form of artwork is hereby ban in Thorstonton."

"What!" Raeda demanded. "You guys kidding, right?"

"Nope." Tuffnut said. "Thorstonton needs less of the aesthetics and more of the pyrokinetics. Heh, heh. So hop to!"

Angered by this new rule, Raeda took out her Gronckle Iron bow to strike at the blonde twins while their backs were turned. Hiccup, however, stopped her before she could, trying to get her to calm down.

Tuffnut then took the parchment to make sure they went over all the rules. However, before he could read anything, a Fireworm dragon landed on the paper and set it on fire, causing Tuff to drop it. "Table boy, table girl, clean that up." He ordered.

Once he managed to get the bow away from Raeda, Hiccup and Hicca tried to get rid of the Fireworm dragon. "Okay, while we're doing this, you guys need to stay on top of this Fireworm thing." Hiccup said to the two rulers, hoping they would listen.

Hicca extinguished the fire while her brother picked up a stick to try and pick up the tiny dragon, but that only result in stick catching fire. Midnight then fired a plasma blast close enough at the Fireworm to scare it away.

"It's starting to get pretty real." Hiccup said to his twin, before looking up at the sky.

Soon everyone was off doing their new assigned jobs (most were very, _very_ reluctant in doing so). The Haddock twins were at the stables scrubbing Barf and Belch, as order by their rulers. The blonde twins then appeared to check on their work.

"Uh, aren't you forgetting something?" Tuffnut asked, crossing his arms in expectation.

"What?" Hiccup asked. Hicca then got his attention and made a bowing gesture. "Oh, right. Sorry." The auburn bowed in greeting.

"That's better." Ruffnut said.

"Now let's have a look at your work, table twins." Tuffnut said. He examined Barf and Belch's scales and seemed impressed. "Hmm, good. That's nice attention to detail."

"Uh, we have a problem." Ruffnut said, looking at the bucket of water that was used.

"What? What's the problem?" Hicca asked, as Tuffnut went to see the problem.

"Pathetic." Tuffnut said, seeming pick up on what it was.

"Disgraceful." Ruffnut agreed.

"Unacceptable."

"What is it?" Hiccup asked in exasperation.

"This water is lukewarm. We pecifically asked for scalding... sorry, calding, if I'm not miskaken." Tuffnut informed the two workers.

"Oh, you are not mitaken, brother." Ruffnut agreed.

"Fine, scald... calding it is." Hiccup said, struggling to follow the no 'S' rule. "Toothless-Toothle... Plama blat!" It was a good enough command to give to the male Night Fury, who immediately blasted the bucket of water, causing Ruff and Tuff to be covered in smoke.

"Is that calding enough?" Hicca asked.

"I'm keeping an eye on you, Mr. Night Fury. My good eye." Tuff warned. The Night Fury merely snorted in response, clearly not favoring the new rulers of the island.

"Wait, are you telling me you have a bad eye?" Hiccup questioned, feeling surprised.

"Wait, are you telling me you have a bad leg?" Ruffnut retorted, in her brothers defense. Neither Hiccup nor Hicca could think of anything to say in response. "Thought so."

"And the weirdness continues." Hicca sighed as the blonde twins flew away on Barf and Belch.

Astrid had just landed outside her hut, when she was met with the two rulers.

"That's a two-mackerel landing charge, little lady." Ruffnut informed her. Giving an annoyed huffed Astrid payed up. "Two more mackerel. Are you keeping track or should I?" She asked her brother.

"No, I got it." Tuffnut said.

"Look, I don't have any more mackerel. And if I did, I wouldn't give it to you for your dumb take-off and landing charge." Astrid said.

"Excue me. Are you calling the laws of this land dumb?" Tuff challenged, daring her to answer.

"You don't like 'dumb'? How about dopey? Brainless, dimwitted, moronic. Shall I go on?" Astrid mocked. She didn't care what Hiccup or Hicca told her, this was insane and she will not stand for it any further.

"Notlout!" Tuffnut called out, enraged by Astrid's behaivour.

"Coming in hot!" Snotlout called. He and Hookfang landed next to the group with the Jorgenson boy saluting his two bosses. "Ergeant at arm Notlout reporting."

"Take this mutineer to the new dungeon, and her little dragon, too. Give her some time to think about her attitude." Tuffnut ordered.

"Dungeon? Are you serious?" Astrid asked in disbelief.

"Do we look serious?" Tuff countered.

Frustrated and annoyed, Astrid decided that getting arrested was a lot better than dealing with those two, so she and Stormfly just went with Snotlout and Hookfang.

"You know, that's a good question. Do we?" Tuffnut asked turning to his twin, once the four were gone.

"I don't know. Here, give me your best serious face." Ruffnut said. Her brother did as told. "Whoa, pretty serious. Okay, what about me?"

"Oh, yeah. Okay, we look pretty serious." Tuffnut decided.

The Thorston twins decided to fly back to their hut, but were shock with the sight they were greeted with. All around their hut, basically every space surrounding it, was the letter 'S' painted in different colors.

"What. The…." Tuffnut trailed off.

The culprit was standing right next to it, looking very proud. "Like it?" Raeda asked rhetorically as she stood with Sparkfire. "My latest work. It's titled 'Ruff, Tuff, your new rules are Sssssssstupid."

"What is the meaning of this?" Ruffnut demanded.

"This is simply me acting out in defiance of your new leadership." Raeda explained with a smirk. "And I think I did a pretty good job if I do say so myself, right Sparkfire." The purple Nadder squawked her cheers for her rider.

"We will not stand for this! Notlout!"

As if on cue, Snotlout and Hookfang arrived at the hut. "Eargent, here ir!" He saluted.

"Take thi inurgent to the Dungeon." Ruffnut ordered.

"Ye ma'am!"

"I will only go with Snotlout because a life in prison is a lot better than a life with no freedom of expression!" Raeda stated.

Dinnertime soon came and the blonde twins were dining with Chicken in the Clubhouse with their new poet Fishlegs, entertaining them with his new poem.

Or at least trying to.

 _There once was an island named Thorstonton_

 _Where everybody wanted to have fun, fun, fun._

 _We sang and we danced_

 _And we all peed our pants_

 _When the ruler came up with a great pun... pun, pun…_

He looked at his leaders for their opinion. Chicken just gave an unimpressed cluck. "The chicken is not amused." Tuffnut said. "Notlout!"

As if he was hiding and waiting for his cue, Snotlout and Hookfang once more appeared. "Ir, ye, ir, right here."

"To the dungeon with him." Tuffnut declared.

Hookfang then dragged Fishlegs out of there. "No, the chicken is wrong! The chicken is wrong!" The poet argued..

Tuffnut was outraged at that. "How dare you? The chicken is never wrong." He then soothed Chicken's ruffling feathers. "Shh. I'm sorry you had to hear 's it, quiet. There we go."

Hicca and Hiccup were still cleaning the stables when they saw Snotlout and Hookfang herding Astrid, Stormfly, Raeda, Sparkfire, Fishlegs and Meatlug into one of the cages.

"All right, giddy up! Get back in line! Back in line!" Snotlout ordered.

"Snotlout, what are you doing?" Hiccup asked.

"Never you mind, table boy. This is official Thorntontonston business." Snotlout stated as the prisoners went it. He then locked the door on them. "Welcome to your new home, jailbirds."

"You could not hold it together for a longer time?" Hicca asked Raeda.

"I make no apologies for my actions." Raeda said.

"What are you in for?" Hiccup asked Astrid.

"Funny." Astrid said sarcastically. "Exactly how long are you two going to let this go on? Have either of you seen all those Fireworms?"

"Yeah, the migration is picking up steam." Fishlegs added. Meatlug then farted. "Ho ho ho! She does not deal well with prison food."

Raeda covered her nose. "Despite this, I still have no regrets."

"All right, all right, Hicca and I'll talk to them." Hiccup said to the prisoners. "I'm sure I can get this all straightened out."

"I hope so."

After spending some time looking for the blonde twins, the Haddock twins found them flying above a forest which is on fire. They went to them. "So you guys surveying the damage?" Hiccup asked the two island-owners with a hopeful expression.

"No, we're looking for a place to build our summer palace." Tuffnut answered.

"That might be a nice area once the fires burn the vegetation away." Ruffnut added.

"Any thoughts, table boy?" Tuff asked.

"Yeah, just one. Have you considered the fact that if you throw everyone in jail, there's no one left to actually build your summer palace?" Hiccup pointed out.

The blonde twins exchanged a look. "We're listening." Tuffnut said.

"And what about the Fireworm migration?" Hicca added. "Don't you think it might be a good idea to have everyone working so that we can stop Thorstonton from burning down?"

"I see your point, but I also see something else." Tuffnut said.

"Oh, yeah! What? What's that?" Hiccup asking, thinking they were finally getting somewhere.

"Toothless and Midnight are flying as fast as Barf and Belch!" Ruff pointed out.

"And by Thorstonton law…" Tuffnut started.

"That is illegal!" His twin finished.

So much for that.

Raeda was running a mug across the prison bars when Snotlout escorted the Haddock twins and the Night Furies into the cell.

"So what you two in for?" Astrid mocked.

"Astrid, please." Hiccup said.

"What? Just trying to be funny." The Hofferson girl said innocently.

"We get it, we should have handled that better." Hicca said, leaning against the wall.

"Any chance we could get Snotlout to put us in different cells? No offense or anything, but it's starting to get a little crowded." Raeda said.

Before anyone could say anything else, the prisoners were greeted with a strange sight once Hookfang landed at the stables. Snotlout got of his dragon and then proceeded to drag himself to their cell, protesting along the way. He opened the door, threw himself and as soon as Hookfang got inside, locked the door.

"Snotlout?" Hiccup asked.

"What did _you_ do?" Hicca questioned, since Snotlout was the only one who actually liked his new position.

"I was framed." Snotlout explained.

"By who? We're all here." Raeda said.

"All right, that's it. We're breaking out of here." Astrid declared.

"Great! Then we go back to my plan." Snotlout said, making a throat cutting gesture.

"Guys, guys, we're fine. There's nothing to worry about. I mean, the twins can't be that oblivious!" Hiccup said.

"You're putting a lot of faith in two people who thought it was a good idea to ban arts." Raeda said.

The twins in question were in their 'S' filled hut, kicking a newly acquired sheep back and forth. The sheep landed in the middle and, seeing its' chance, made a break for it. Tuffnut chased it outside, only to stop when he saw another Fireworm. "Whoa, check it out! Fireworm!"

Ruffnut came outside and saw the tiny dragon as well. "Burns with the heat of 1,000 suns." She said in awe.

"Ah, those little guys." Tuff admired. Another Fireworm then landed next to its' companion. "Oh, look, it has a little buddy!" The tiny dragon had plenty of buddies as more came and landed on the hut. Then to the two humans alarms the smaller dragons set their hut on fire! "Whoa! No! Stop, stop!" Tuffnut yelled as he and his sister tried, unsuccessfully, to put out the flames.

Tuff then turned to his twin. "As the ruler of Thorstonton, I'm ordering the ruler's sister to do something about this Fireworm problem."

"What do you want me to do? I'm not the boss of them." Ruff argued.

"Well, if we don't do something, they're going to burn Thorstonton to the ground."

"Just like Hiccup and Hicca said." Ruff recalled.

"This is all your fault!" The blonde siblings accused each other.

Back at the prison, the prisoners were keeping track of the smoke.

"That smoke's getting close." Astrid noted. "And where there's smoke…"

"There's Fireworms." Raeda finished.

"As much as I want the Thorston twins to realise their mistake, at this point, we can't keeping for them to come around any longer." Hicca said to her brother.

"You're right, and we won't." Hiccup decided. "Experiment over. We are getting out there and stopping them before there's nothing left of this island."

"Finally." Astrid breathed out, glad that there's an end to this madness.

Hiccup walked to the lock. "Toothless, plasma blast."

But before the Night Fury could fire, the Thorston twins quickly ran up to the cell.

"Hey, guys?" Tuff said as he and his sister were almost out of breath.

"Now's our chance. Hookfang, destroy!" Snotlout commanded.

But Hiccup got in between Hookfang and the blonde twins, forcing the Monstrous Nightmare to keep its' mouth shut. "Oh, hey, rulers! How's stuff in the old kingdom?"

"Having lots of fun with all the smoke and fire?" Astrid asked, catching on to what Hiccup was doing.

"Yes." Tuffnut said before rethinking his answer. "No. Okay, fine! As it turns out, we can't save Thorstonton by ourselves. So we talked about it, and we hereby decree that you can all come and help us put out the fires."

"Ah, that's a shame, 'cause from where I sit, you guys are on your own." Hicca said. "I mean, rules are rules, right?"

"You have to help us save our island! It's all we've got!" Ruffnut begged.

"I don't know. Guys?" Hicca asked.

"I think you've got to stick to your guns." Astrid said.

"I agree with Astrid." Raeda said. "You make a rule, you follow it through. Otherwise it's... you know…"

"Anarchy." Fishlegs finished for Raeda. "I'm with them."

"Come on, you guys, please? Is there anything we can do? Name it, we'll do anything." Tuff said desperately.

"Well, now that you mention it, I suppose we could consider one possibility." Hiccup said.

"Anything!" Ruff and Tuff both said.

"I'll make you two assistant rulers." Tuffnut offered to the auburn twins, who weren't impressed. "Ruler's best pals? Second string rulers?"

"No, we have a better idea, actually. We divide the island up amongst all of us." Hiccup proposed.

"We all own it. There's no ruler, no sister of the ruler. We're all rulers." Hicca added.

"What? That's blasphemous!" Tuffnut exclaimed, jumping back. "You can't do that to the ruler." Suddenly, one of the Fireworm dragons came and towards the Thorston boys' trousers, setting it on fire! "Whaaaaa! Owwww! Whaaa! Okay, you guys can have whatever you want! The island's all of ours! Just get these things out of here!"

Once they were released and Tuffnut was able to put out the fire, the Dragon Riders wasted no time jumping into action. "Okay, Fishlegs, gather up all the Night Terrors and take them to the cave." Hiccup ordered as they flew through the air.

"On it." Fishlegs said, before he and Meatlug flew in a different direction.

"Okay, guys, we need to redirect the Fireworms around our island and onto the next one in the chain." Hicca informed the rest.

"You really think it's gonna make a dent? I mean, look at them all." Astrid said.

"Do you have a better idea?" Hiccup asked. "We don't really have a choice!"

They then flew towards the flock of migrating Fireworms.

"Stormfly, fire!"

"Sparkfire, blast em!"

"Come on, Barf, Belch, do it for Thorstonton!"

Despite the dragons best efforts, it didn't seem to deter the smaller dragons as they began to descend onto the island.

"This is working, we need a new plan!" Hicca said to her brother.

"Fall back! Maybe we can at least protect our base!" Hiccup ordered. They landed back on Dragons' Edge. "Let's get started on building a fire break!"

The Dragon Riders and dragons worked non-stop on building firebreaks to protect the Edge. Astrid, Ruffnut and Tuffnut were digging a trench, Snotlout and Raeda were taking down every nearby tree in sight and Hiccup and Hicca were any burning shrub they could find.

"Just keep digging, guys." Hiccup urged Astrid and the blonde twins. "The fire can't get past it if there's only dirt." They got deterred by a cloud of smoke. "Oh, I can barely see, bud. If this gets much worse, we're gonna have to bail out."

"What do we do now?" Astrid coughed. "It's getting really dangerous."

"The cave!" Hicca remembered. "We'll go there and wait it out with the Night Terrors."

"Uh, Hicca, you may want to come up with another plan." Fishlegs said as he and Meatlug rejoined the group.

"Why?" Hiccup asked.

"I couldn't find the Night Terrors. I called them till my lips almost fell off. They're gone." The Gronckle rider explained.

"I told you we should have bailed on this place." Snotlout said.

"No, we're not bailing. This island is ours." Tuffnut said firmly.

"Tuff?" Hiccup warned.

"It's all of ours." The male Thorston corrected. "And no one burns our equally-shared island to the ground but us."

"I may have to disagree with you there." Hicca said.

That's when their attention was caught by the sight of a large dragon heading their way.

"What the... is that…" Astrid asked fearfully.

"Fireworm queen!" Fishlegs exclaimed. "If she's here, then the entire flock can't be far behind it."

"Well, that settles it. Grab what you can. We're out of here." Hiccup decided.

"Uh, Hiccup, that's not the Fireworm queen." Snotlout pointed out.

Hicca squinted at the larger dragon and saw that her cousin was right. "The Night Terrors! They're protecting the island by forming a Fireworm queen!"

"There's not going to be anything left to protect if all of those Fireworms land here." Astrid stated.

"Well, we just won't let them." Hiccup said.

"Okay, I sense a plan." Raeda said.

"I'm gonna lead the Night Terrors out to sea. Hopefully the Fireworms will follow. You guys stay behind and put out these fires." Hiccup said.

"Be careful, bro!" Hicca called, before Hiccup and Toothless took off.

"Come on, bud! All right, bud, we need to get the terrors' attention and turn them out to sea." Hiccup said to his dragon as they flew towards the Night Terrors. "Alright, gang, let's take a little trip, shall we?" As soon as they caught up to the Night Terrors, Hiccup gave the command. "Toothless, now!" The Night Fury gave a plasma blast towards the Night Terrors, signalling them to follow. The Night Terrors, still in their Fireworm formation, followed Hiccup and Toothless. "Yes! Nice job, bud."

True to Hiccups' prediction, the rest of the Fireworm started following who they thought was their queen. "It's working!" Astrid noted as she watched the tiny dragons being led away from their island.

The next task was to find a suitable island to drop the Fireworms off. Hiccup spotted an island that he and his twin explored earlier. It was completely void of any inhabitants. "There we go, bud. That island's all rock. Perfect stopover for these guys. Going down, gang!" They descended down on the island, with the "Fireworm Queen" and her followers mimicking. Once they were close enough, the Night Terrors dispersed and the Fireworms happily settled in to their new home.

"Now that is something to write about." Hiccup said to Toothless. "And Fishlegs thought the Book of Dragons was finished."

With that they all headed back to their home, making sure the Night Terrors were not following them.

Once Hiccup and Toothless made it back, they worked with the others to extinguish the flames around the Edge. It was going to take a lot of time and resources to fix the damages, but everyone was just glad to be done with the whole days events.

The Dragon Riders and dragons then gathered around the claim stone.

"Ruff, Tuff, you guys did the right thing." Hiccup said to the former leaders. "I just hope you learned something in all this."

"Yeah, we sure did. Leading blow." Tuffnut did. "Oh, we don't have to do the "S" thing anymore. Leading blows."

"Seriously blows." Ruffnut agreed.

"You know what, though? At least we have our cool claim stone to remember our glorious reign!" Tuffnut pointed out. However the moment of happiness for the Thorston twins was short-lived when Meatlug ate the claim stone. She then spewed some lava at the twins feet. "No respect. No respect at all."

Laughing at them, Snotlout started singing and dancing in celebration to the end of the Thorston twins short-term reign. Soon the others started joining him. Ruff and Tuff looked at each and shrugged before joining in as well.

It's everyone's island!

This is our island

It's everyone's island


	8. Crushing It

**A/N: For those who have already saw this chapter I apologize for the error and hopefully this one will be fine. As for why it's taken me too long to update, I made an original side story with this chapter that was not turning out how I wanted it to be. I didn't really want to write it, until recently when I came up with a change in the plot to make it better. On top of that, this summer I started my first ever job, so I'm now balancing that with my college classes. Hopefully, this chapter will make up for my absence.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own anything from How to train your dragon, except for my OCs.**

 **Chapter 8: Crushing It.**

It was late at night on Dragon's Edge and everyone was fast asleep, but the sleeping arrangement was a bit different. Tonight, instead of sleeping in their own huts, the Dragon Riders and Dragons all congregated in the Clubhouse and were fast asleep.

Everyone, that is, except for one Snotlout Jorgenson

He was forced to stay awake for patrol, and the guard was not happy about that at all. "Why do we have to be the ones to stay up on Rumblehorn watch?" He complained to the dragon who was also staying awake with him, or so he thought. "Hookfang, I'm talking to you."

He turned to see the Monstrous Nightmare fast asleep and snoring. Clearly, he saw that his human was enough for the job.

Despite this, Snotlout continued on his rant. "We're never going to stop this crazy dragon from tearing this place up."

The Rumblehorn was a new species of dragon that the Dragon Riders discovered when they caught it wreaking havoc on the Edge. For days, they have been working to keep get rid of this dragon, but it only seemed to appear at night. So they decided to take turns to keep a look-out for the dragon and along with that Hiccup and Hicca planted some traps around the Edge so it would be easier to locate.

And it seems that one of the traps have been set off. All the traps have been rigged to Hookfang's horns so that if one gets set off, the Monstrous Nightmare will get a tug on his horn and will immediately give his rider a fiery wake-up call.

Just like right now.

"Aaah! Intruder alert! Intruder alert!" Snotlout shouted as he ran with his rear on fire once again. His shouts immediately waking up the others as he ran by. "Ow, ow, ow! That's the third time this week!" He finally jumped in a trough full of water. "Ahhh! Sweet relief."

The Haddock twins quickly used the design of their traps to locate their intruder. "The Rumblehorn! It's headed for the Eastern beach." Hiccup stated. "Come on, you guys!"

They wasted no time getting on their dragons and flying off to the location. When they arrived, they found the net, seeming to caught the Rumblehorn. "Finally. We got it! Everybody stay back!" Hicca warned.

Tuffnut approached their new prisoner. "I didn't think it would be so smelly."

"I didn't think it would be so hairy." Ruffnut said, joining her twin.

"You try shaving with a hook for an arm!" A surprisingly familiar voice retorted.

Tuffnut didn't seem to place it. "The Rumblehorn talks! Quick, smack it."

"Cut me down, you simpleton!" Gobber demanded from inside the trap.

"Gobber?" Hicca asked, surprised to see the dragon dentist/blacksmith come all the way from Berk to their place.

"And it's got a bad attitude." Ruffnut said.

"Eh, nevermind!" Gobber said. He used his hook to slice through the net, setting himself free.

"Gobber, what did you do with our Rumblehorn?" Tuffnut demanded.

"Rumblehorn? What's a Rumblehorn?" The older man questioned.

"A new dragon that's been trying to chase us off the island." Fishlegs explained.

"Yeah, us and everything else." Astrid added.

"We've been trying to catch it and relocate it." Hiccup continued.

"Yet we caught you. Yay, us." Snotlout grumbled.

"You're trying to catch a dragon with a net that can't hold a one-legged, one-armed Viking? Amateurs." Gobber said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, we didn't think that the dragon would have a hook hand to cut through the net." Raeda pointed out.

"Not too late to club him still." Tuffnut whispered his offer to the Haddock twins. "I can give him a little 'Ah! Uh!' You know, 'uh, uh, uh!'" He made some clubbing gestures for emphasis..

The auburn twins chose to ignore that. "Yeah, we should just get back and check on the dragon base."

The group headed back to the base, only to find it completely demolished.

"Oh come on! Not again." Hicca groaned.

"Eh. Well, let's see what you've done with the place." Gobber looked around the teens new home, not looking impressed one bit. "It looks very, well…"

"Trashed!" Astrid said in frustration.

"Your words, not mine." Gobber said.

"The Rumblehorn must have hit us while we were out chasing you." Hiccup sighed.

"We were only gone for a few minutes and we set all those other traps up." Raeda said.

"Last chance. I can still club him. Come on, club, club, club. Join the club." Tuffnut offered again.

"As much as I love a good clubbing, even my own, it will have to wait." Gobber said, to the auburn twins. "I need to talk to you two. I've come with disturbing news about your father."

"Is he all right?" Hiccup asked, he and his sister both concerned.

"Oh, he's fine." Gobber said.

"That's a relief." Hicca said, sighing.

"But, then again, not so fine."

The relief quickly vanished. "Gobber, you're killing us." Hiccup groaned.

"Is our father okay or not?" Hicca asked.

"Oh, he's as fit as a dragon." Gobber clarified. "Unfortunately, he's as ornery as one, too."

Toothless and Midnight growled, taking offense.

"No offense." Gobber said to the two dragons. "I've never seen him like this... angry, shouting at everyone."

"Actually, that sounds like vintage Stoick the Vast to me." Hiccup said, his sister nodding in agreement.

"You think I would have sailed in a boat by myself for a week if it were 'vintage' Stoick the Vast? He's driving the village crazy!" Gobber insisted.

"All right, I guess we'd better see what's going on with him." Hicca said.

"Good idea." Gobber agreed.

"You want to ride back with us?" She then offered.

"Actually, I think I might stay a while, help repair your wee dragon base." The older man suggested. "See if I can offer up some of my dragon-killing experience to help defend against that Rumblehorn. If there's time, I'll take Tuffnut up on that clubbing."

"It works with Ruffnut." Said boy chipped in.

"I get it. So basically, you're hiding out from our father." Hiccup inferred.

"One might look at it that way." Was all Gobber said.

"Well, guys, I guess the four of us are off to Berk." Hiccup said to the leaving group

"I'll come with you." Raeda said. "I need to drop of some orders to Berk. Just give me a few minutes to grab them."

Just because they were on a different island didn't mean Rae's Art Gallery had to go out of business. Raeda uses Terror Mail to receive orders from Berk and then makes arrangements with Johann to deliver the orders. Now she has a good opportunity to deliver some of those orders faster.

(Linebreak)

Once Raeda collected the orders she could carry with her on Sparkfire, the three teens and dragons took off for Berk.

After braving through the long flight and taking a few stops along the way, they finally reached Berk. Raeda and Sparkfire split up from the group to make their deliveries as well as see whether there were any new orders to take. This left the Haddock twins and the Night Furies to look for the chief.

"Hmm, it's quieter than usual." Hiccup commented as they surveyed the Plaza.

"Shoddy workmanship! That's what this is!" A familiar voice boomed.

"You were saying?" Hicca asked her brother, her eyebrows raised.

"Okay, follow the sound of the angry Viking." Hiccup decided.

They followed their fathers' voice and ended up at the armoury. They hesitated outside as they listened in on what their father was saying.

"I said I wanted these weapons arranged by deadliness! Swords!" Stoick exclaimed as Sven.

Suddenly, the auburn twins found themselves dodging weapons as they were being thrown out the armoury. They quickly took cover behind a nearby catapult. "Axes! Bludgeons! Then maces!" The last flew straight to Toothless, who used his wing as a shield, causing the mace to bounce off and hit the lever of the catapult sending a poor sheep, who was on the catapult, flying.

To the twins relief it stopped

"If I used them on you, you wouldn't forget how deadly they were!" Stoick yelled, storming out of the armoury. He was so focused on his anger, he didn't even noticed his children have arrived. "Gah! I can't believe it…"

Once the chief was gone, Sven noticed the Haddock twins outside. "Hiccup, Hicca, thank Thor you're here. You guys have got to help us. Your father has become unbearable!"

"Well, to be fair, Sven, you did have the weapons out of order." Hiccup reasoned.

"That's because yesterday he told me to arrange them by length!" Sven defended in exasperation. "The day before it was by pointiness! The day before that, it was by name! Did you know he gave each weapon its own nickname?"

"Well, I have to admit, that is really weird." Hiccup admitted. "Uh, alright, we'll go talk to him."

"I mean, seriously. Who names their mace Daisy?" Sven groaned as the group left him.

(Linebreak)

Back on the Edge, the rest of the Dragon Riders were working on repairing their base while discussing how to handle the Rumblehorn.

"These attacks are getting worse every time. Either that Rumblehorn's got to go, or we do." Astrid said, while cleaning up some of the mess.

"Hey, our boar pit survived!" Tuffnut discovered, to his and his twins' delight. "Cool! I like a pit, but I love a boar pit."

Gobber walked up and inspected the boar pit. "You call that a boar pit? Ha! I've dug my way out of shallow graves deeper than that."

"Would you look at these Rumblehorn tracks?" Fishlegs said, bringing everyone's attention to said tracks on the ground. "If you take into account the width and the depth of the footprints, and the distance between them, I calculate that this dragon is-"

"Hefty. One might even say beefy." Gobber interjected.

"Does somebody want to tell me why we're rebuilding this place? He's just going to crash through and wreck it again." Snotlout pointed out.

"He wouldn't if you could build a defensive wall properly." The blacksmith/dragon dentist said, picking up some bulks of wood. "Well, don't just stand there. If you want to learn, follow me."

Snotlout, Tuffnut and Fishlegs just looked at each other and followed the older man. None of them had a better idea.

(Linebreak)

Meanwhile, back on Berk, the Haddock twins have followed their father to one of the fields, deciding to just observe his new behaviour first before making their presence known. "For Thor's sake, you plow like an old woman!" Stoick exclaimed at Gothi, who for some reason was given the task to plough the field. "Hag. This is how you plow!" The chief then decided to do the job himself. "Oh, it's so simple! You can't even…"

Watching this scene, the Haddock twins were silently communicating with each other when Hiccup got pulled by the ear, by Gothi! The elderly noticed them as well and just like all the other villagers, was not happy with the chief right now. "Ah. Gothi! You know, personally, I don't know what he's talking about." Hiccup said quickly, noticing the elders glare as his twin joined them. "You are by far my favorite plower in all of Berk. That... That's some good plowing, yeah."

Still fuming, Gothi started scribbling in the ground. Hicca started reading it. "Uh, yes, I... we agree. He is totally out of control." Hicca said nodding. She continued to read. "Watch the language. He's still our father. We'll talk to him, promise." She reassured.

Deciding they had enough intel on what's been going on with their dad, the twins followed him to the Academy, planning to confront him there.

Outside they found Henry and his five dragons.

"Henry! Hey, there!" Hicca called getting the other boys attention.

The boy looked up and saw the twins and their dragons walking in his direction. "Hicca. Hiccup." He said curtly, before turning back to his dragon Lockjaw.

"Uh, Henry? You wouldn't happen to know where our dad is do you?" Hiccup asked

"Academy." Was all Henry said, not even looking at them.

"Great, come on, sis." Hiccup started walking towards the entrance, but stopped when he realised his twin wasn't following him.

"Is everything okay with Lockjaw?" Hicca asked, noting the worried look on Henrys' face.

"Yeah, he's just...feeling under the weather." Henry answered, but the way he said it made Hicca feel that he himself wasn't convinced of that.

"Are you sure? If you want, I can give him a check-up."

"Gothi already did and she didn't find anything, except that he was exhausted. She recommended a lot of rest for him."

"Hope Lockjaw feels better." Hiccup offered as he walked to them. He then turned to his sister. "As for us, we got other business to attend to."

Hicca then remembered the reason why they were on Berk. "Right. Come on."

The twins entered the Academy.

(Linebreak)

Inside the Academy, Stoick was venting out his anger with the by throwing some axe at a target. A curious Terrible Terror scaled down the wall on top of the target to see the human missing every shot. The chief was so focused on his anger he didn't noticed anyone entering the Academy, until he heard an 'Ahem'. Still feeling enraged, he turned around holding his axe high in the air, ready to strike at anyone who dared to approach him.

"Ah! Dad, please don't kill us!" Hiccup pleaded.

"It's your daughter and son!" Hicca exclaimed.

Stoick dropped his axe at the sight of his children. "Hicca! Hiccup!" He immediately trapped them both in a bear hug, his bad mood vanishing quickly.

"Oh! Good to see you too, Dad." Hiccup breathed out. "Now... Now if we could just, um, breathe?"

"Yeah, that would be greatly appreciated." Hicca squeaked out.

Their father immediately let them go. "Oh sorry! Just happy to see my kids!"

The twins tried to regain their breathing. "Well, that's great. Hicca and I and our cracked ribs are happy to see you, too."

"What are you doing all the way out at the academy?" The Haddock girl asked.

"Oh, well, I come up here for the peace and quiet, usually when Henry and his dragons are not here, which is quite a lot these days." Her father explained. "Tired of hearing people complaining... Stoick, you're being too tough. Stoick, you're being too picky. Stoick, you're cutting off my air supply."

The twins took a small step back as they watched their father vent. Their dad then went to a saddle mounted up and started polishing it. Hiccup then recognised the familiar saddle mounted up. "Hey, hey, is that Thornado's old saddle? Wow, Dad, you really kept it shiny."

Thornado is a blue Thunderdrum dragon who used to be Stoick partner-in-crime. After the a bumpy start, to say the least, the two formed a bond and became as close as the Haddock twins were to their dragons. Until one day when the Dragon Riders found three abandoned baby Thunderdrums. After quickly finding out that these three babies could not live on Berk, they brought them to Dragon Island, but could not leave them to fend off against the older, wilder dragons. With no other choice, Stoick set Thornado free to look after the baby Thunderdrums, with whom the older dragon had already grew fond off. To this day, the Thunderdrums remain on Dragon Island.

"Well, just because one dragon is gone doesn't mean I'm gonna let a valuable piece of equipment fall into disrepair." The Berkian chief said, although there was something in his tone that the twins noticed, but couldn't quite put their fingers on. "But enough about me. What brings my world-traveler son and daughter back to Berk?"

The twins looked at each other. That was an answer they didn't prepare. They didn't really know how to explain to their father that the reason was because his close friend travelled all the way to the Edge to tell them their father has been acting off. And it would not be any better if they tell him they agree.

That's when Sven cautiously came into the Academy. "Eh, Stoick, I don't mean to interrupt, but I've got those weapons arranged by deadliness, just like you wanted them."

That sentence seemed to snap the chief back into his bad mood. "And who said I wanted them that way? Does anyone around here listen?" He then picked up his axe again, looking ready to use it.

"Dad, Dad, Dad! I just had a great idea." Hiccup quickly intervened.

"If it involves me hurling an axe at Sven's head, let's hear it." Stoick gritted, keeping a tight grip on his weapon.

Behind his back, Hicca quietly signalled Sven to leave.

Sven immediately picked up on that. "Oh, I... I hear my sheep calling." He ran as fast as he could.

Hiccup then continued to diffuse his fathers anger. "I-I was thinking something a little more relaxing. Something to take the edge off?"

"Edge? What edge?" The chief demanded. His kids just gave him dead-panned looks and he realised he was still clutching onto his axe. He then loosened it. "Okay, I'm listening."

"Yeah, so Hicca and I were thinking, why don't you take a couple of days off, come with us to see the dragon base?" Hiccup offered.

"Yeah, you'd love that place. We based a lot of the designs on Berk." Hicca added.

"No, impossible. There's far too much to do around here." Their father dismissed.

The twins exchanged looks, before Hiccup got an idea. "Okay, Dad. Well, tell you what, if I'm being honest, the reason we're really here is that we've got a dragon problem back on the island."

"Dragon problem? What kind of a dragon problem?" Stoick asked, now intrigued.

"Well, you see, we're trying to relocate a new species of dragon and Hiccup and I thought we could handle it, but we could really use your help." Hicca explained, catching on to her brothers plan.

It seemed to work. "Well, I suppose I could spare a moment, if you really need me."

"Oh, we do. We really, really do." Hiccup insisted.

Their father then left the Academy to pack some supplies for the long trip.

Hiccup turned to his twin. "So glad that worked. And who knows this might actually help us with the Rumblehorn situation."

"Hope so." Hicca said turning to her brother. She then saw the entrance of the Academy behind her twin and saw Henry standing there, which reminded her of Lock-jaw. "Actually why don't you guys go ahead. I-uh just remembered I need to talk with Gothi about... some important medicine. Yep might as well do it now."

"We can come with you." Hiccup offered.

"No need! It's fine. We need to figure out the Rumblehorn situation as soon as possible. Besides, I think Gothi needs a break from our dad." Hicca insisted.

"Are you sure."

"Positive. I'll come back with Rae. And I've got Midnight here." She said, putting a hand on her dragons' head. "Come on girl." With that, Hiccup watched as his sister and her dragon ran out of the Academy.

(Linebreak)

Once outside, Hicca looked around, hoping to find Henry and his dragons. She did find Lockjaw, Sandstorm and Scout with him. She approached the two dragons.

"Hey guys." She greeted the two dragons, putting her hand out. Scout rubbed her snout on it without hesitation. All five dragons were always friendly to Hicca ever since she helped Wildstar. This works well for what Hicca needs right now. "Where are the others?" She asked, referring to Henry, Wildstar, Sandtrapper.

Scout answered by pointing her head to the sky.

'He must have went on a flight and left Sandstorm and Scout to look after Lockjaw.' Hicca guessed. Speaking of which, Lockjaw seemed to be drifting in and out of consciousness. He was completely out of it. She then went to Lockjaw as Midnight started interacting with the other two dragons.

"Hey there, Lockjaw." She greeted softly. The dragon merely opened his eyes to look at her before closing them. "Heard you weren't feeling well. Just thought I would give you a check-up."

She started her check-up. Taking the dragons' temperature, checking his heartbeat, etc. In doing so, she noticed that his body temperature is starting to go lower than average, that he was shivering and that there was some unusual yellowish-orange spots forming on his body.

'But that's strange, I didn't see any of these spots a few minutes ago. And there's no way Henry could have miss this or the temperature. Neither would Gothi. What is going on?'

She took out her notebook and noted down the symptoms. They seem familiar to her, but she couldn't figure out the diagnosis..

"Come on, Midnight." The two made their way to Gothis' hut. Hoping to find answers.

(Linebreak)

At the Edge, the rest of the Dragon Riders, under Gobbers directions, were able to build a large wall made of stones with watchtowers at the side.

Astrid assessed their final work. "I have to admit, that's one impressive wall. It should stop the Rumblehorn, at least from the ground."

"I'm going to call her Greta, after my first love." Gobber announced. "Large, sturdy. Beefy, some would say."

Suddenly there was a loud roar hear in the distance. The teens knew exactly what dragon was making that sound.

"It's coming from the West! And it's getting closer!" Fishlegs warned in panic.

"Everybody, mount up!" Astrid ordered.

She and the rest of the teens immediately got on their dragons and took to the sky. Gobber, however, stayed on the ground, ready to give extra support to his wall.

"I'm not moving! The wall will hold." He said stubbornly. As the roars grew louder, the wall suddenly started to shake but it did not collapse. "Yah! Told you my Greta would hold." Gobber exclaimed triumphantly. However, he couldn't celebrate because the watchtowers surrounding the wall couldn't hold. They lost support and tumbled down, on Gobber! "Oh, Greta, how could you?"

THUD!

"Hurry up and move those logs!" Astrid frantically ordered as Stormfly and the other dragons moved the logs as fast as they could. Stormfly got the last log which was covering Gobber. "Gobber, are you alright?"

"Good morning, Mommy. Is it time for dragon-killing school?" Gobber asked in a daze. Looks like he'll need Hicca to check his head.

"Hey, at least this wall held. Of course, everything else got crushed." Snotlout said.

The group heard some more dragon growls from a distance. Thinking that it was the Rumblehorn again, the Thorston twins snapped into action and got on their dragon.

"Incoming! Yeah! Fire, fire!" Tuffnut commanded as he and his twin had Barf and Belch fire at the targets. Hookfang and Stormfly followed suit. "Use all weapons! Start blasting!"

The dragon started dodging the attacks and got closer, becoming more familiar to the group.

"Hey, it's us. Cut it out!" Hiccup demanded. The attacks immediately stopped.

"Oh, okay. Sorry about that." Tuffnut said. He then noticed the Berkian chief. "Nice to see you, Chief. You're looking very fit. Your hands seem to be rough... and well-worked. Anyway, welcome to Rumblehorn hell."

"Where are Hicca and Raeda?" Fishlegs asked.

"They stayed back to finish some errands." Hiccup answered. "They'll be joining us soon."

"You weren't kidding about having dragon problems." Stoick said, as he surveyed the damage caused by the rogue dragon.

"Is anybody hurt?" Hiccup asked.

"Well, sort of..." Astrid said tentatively, trying to figure out how to explain Gobber.

Looks like the blacksmith decided to do it for her. "Hello, lovies. Who'd like some figgy pudding?" He offered in a different voice while holding up one of his boot.

"What's wrong with him?" Stoick asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Well, Chief, you can start with the peg leg. And then you add in the hook and the bad breath, weird neck. I mean, look at his neck." Tuffnut listed off.

"He'll be fine. He got hit by a watchtower." Snotlout interjected.

Gobber then started laughing at Toothless for no reason. "Ah, you're killing me. Who knew you were such a card?"

Perplexed, the male Night Fury moved away from the derailed man.

"Hiccup, these Rumblehorn attacks are getting out of hand. We have to do something." Astrid said.

Stoick saw this as his cue to take charge. "Okay, then, first things first. We start with-"

"Astrid, you search the Eastern coastline." Hiccup instructed. "Ruff, Tuff, you have the West." The twins saluted at that. "My father and I will take the middle of the island. Fishlegs and Snotlout, you take care of Gobber and keep fixing the base."

"Got it." Fishlegs nodded.

Snotlout, however, didn't agree with the plan. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute there, dragon master."

"Hello, little fella." The dazed Gobber greeted putting an arm around Snotlout, which he shrugged off.

"How come I have to stay behind?" The Jorgenson boy demanded.

"I'm a dragon. Ya! Heh." Gobber growled, doing a poor imitation of a dragon.

"Okay, fine, you want to hunt the unstoppable, bloodthirsty dragon instead?" Hiccup offered rhetorically, knowing his cousin wouldn't choose that.

"Bloodthirsty dragon, huh?" Snotlout pondered.

"Ooh, look at my tail. Do dragons chase their tails or do they breathe fire on them? I don't know." Gobber babbled on to Snotlout

That' when the boy decided that as insane as the older man was acting, he was much more harmless than the Rumblehorn. "On second thought, I don't want to give you guys an unfair advantage. So I should probably stay behind and protect one of the archipelago's national treasures."

"The sun is a shiny potato covered in drawn butter." Gobber said, still in a daze.

"And the moon is a scoop of ice cream." Snotlout played along.

Hiccup shaked his head at both of them while Stoick was focusing more on his son and the way he gave out commands to the other teens. It was very, very familiar to him.

(Linebreak)

Back on Berk Hicca and Midnight went to Gothi's hut in the hopes of finding the healer herself.

"Hello, Gothi?" She called out as she entered the house. She looked around the place hoping to find her mentor, but found no signs of her.

'She must have stepped out.' Hicca thought to herself. Unable to wait for her mentor, Hicca went to the shelves, deciding to find the answer herself. Gothi did give the girl permission to borrow any book whenever she needed.

"It's got to be here, somewhere." Hicca said to Midnight.

"What's got to be there?" A voice asked, startling the girl and dragon.

"Oh, hey Rae." Hicca said, once she saw the source of the voice. "Done with business?"

"Yep." The ravenette answered. "I looked and happened to see you and Midnight heading to Gothi's hut so we followed you. I thought you guys would have headed back to the Edge by now."

"Hiccup, dad and Toothless have. We stayed because I need to find out about something." Hicca explained.

"Does it have to do with the Rumblehorn?"

"No, it's about another dragon." Hicca said. "And I'm worried it could be something serious."

That made Raeda concerned. "Which dragon and what's wrong?"

" I observed some symptoms which felt familiar to me, but I just can't place it. The dragon is Lockjaw.

"Lockjaw?" Raeda repeated trying to place the name. "Is that one of Henry's dragons."

"Yeah and I need to find my answer before it's too late."

Raeda nodded, before going to the shelf and grabbing another book. "What symptoms are we looking for?"

"Cold skin and involuntary shivering. Like you're getting a cold sensation even though the temperature is warm but no signs of sickness". Hicca said. "And yellowish orange spots."

The two girls then got to work.

(Linebreak)

Back on the Edge, the two Haddock men took to the air on Toothless to search for the Rumblehorn. Being in the air after such a long time gave Stoick a wave of nostalgia.

"Ah, it's good to be back up in the air again." He then looked down on the island where his children and the other teens have been living. "No wonder you and Hicca never come back to visit. This highland is spectacular."

"Thanks, Dad, but we're not gonna be able to keep any of it if we don't solve our Rumblehorn problem." Hiccup reminded his father.

"Right. When exactly did you start having trouble with it?" The Berkian chief asked.

"A few weeks ago. We didn't even know it was on the island, and then suddenly it was everywhere." Hiccup explained. "First is just went after wild dragons, then it started coming after us."

"And how many dragons has it killed?"

"None yet." Hiccup answered. "This dragon is more than strong. It's fast, it's smart and it's elusive. We've never even gotten a good look at it."

"This does seem like quite the challenge, doesn't it?" Stoick commented in contemplation.

"Yes, it does." Hiccup agreed.

Stoick then laughed. "Look at the two of us... two Viking men on the hunt, scheming to catch a wild beast."

"See? You're cheering up already, right?" Hiccup pointed out.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, son." Was all Stoick said.

Their conversation was then interrupted by a dragon roar.

"There!" Both father and son yelled pointing in the same direction. Toothless immediately flew down and when they landed they found an area clear of any Rumblehorn.

"You see what I mean? Everytime, we just miss it." Hiccup said, feeling very frustrated at again missing the dragon.

"Well, we didn't see it fly away, so it has to be on foot." Stoick pointed out. "But which way?"

Hiccup then surveyed the area, until something caught his eyes. "Over here. Check the direction of the trees he took down." He pointed to the line of wrecked trees.

"After you, son." The chief said putting a hand on his son's shoulder. "Ho ho, this is great."

They continued to follow along the trail, but didn't seem to be getting any closer to the rogue dragon. A few hours have passed and still no dragon.

"These footprints are fresh." Hiccup observed. "We should be right on top of it."

"It's like the beast can sense us coming, and then it changes direction." Stoick mused, stroking his beard. "A truly worthy adversary."

They followed the trail to a clearing.

"We have got to be getting close." Hiccup said, getting worn out from the walking.

Stoick noticed something. "Ah, I don't think so. We've been here before. Look at the broken branches on this side of the trail." He pointed to the trees Hiccup pointed out earlier. "The beast has doubled back on us."

"Wait, you think it knows we're hunting it?"

"No, I think it's hunting us."

"Oh, that's good! No, I prefer it much more the other way around." Hiccup said sarcastically, feeling more frustrated. His dad didn't respond and instead walked up to one of the larger logs. Hiccup recognised the silence as a sign that his father has an idea. "What are you thinking, Dad?

Stoick breaks a large branch off and turned to his son.

"I might have an idea on how we're going to catch this beast."

(Linebreak)

"Anything?" Hicca asked as she closed her third book.

Raeda, who was still going reading the first book she picked up, closed her eyes. "The only thing I'm learning from this is that I'm glad I'm not studying to be a healer." There was way too much information for her to process.

Hicca sighed in frustration. She knows they were working on a timer, she could feel it.

Raeda gave a yawn, stretching her arms out as well. In doing so, she accidentally knocked down Hicca's satchel, which was placed on the table. The contents of the bag fell out.

"Oops! Sorry!" Raeda said as she immediately got up and and started picking up the papers.

"It's fine." Hicca reassured, picking up her charcoal. Then something dawned on her. "Wait, give me that!" She snatched the papers out of Raeda's hands and started reading through them. "Of course! I can't believe I didn't realise this earlier!" She gave the papers back to Raeda. "Go find Gothi and show her this. I need to go find Henry!"

Hicca and Midnight immediately took off, while Raeda and Sparkfire flew off to find Gothi, the former reading the notes that Hicca just read.

They landed near the Academy and thankfully found the group at the same place, Henry was looking even more concerned, his hair looked like its been run through frantically.

Henry spotted Hicca and Midnight running towards them "Hicca, good your still here, Lockjaws' temperature-"

"I know. Move!" Without stopping she went to Lockjaw and gently opened one of his eyes.

"What are you-" Henry started to ask, before Hicca interrupted him.

"Just give me a second." She said, observing the eye, until she found what she was looking for, a red ring around the iris. "Just as I thought. We need to get him to Gothi, fast!"

None of them wasted any time.

(Linebreak)

Well, I've got my club

And I've got my rope

And I smell like a yak

'Cause I don't use soap.

I'm a Viking through and through!

Stoick sang as he stood alone in the clearing with the torn out branch in one hand and a rope in the other. He kept his eyes out for the Rumblehorn, practically inviting it to come after him.

The dragon took the invitation and appeared in front of the Berkian chief. Seeing the dragon for the very first time, Stoick took in the size of the dragon, it's clubbed-tail, jackhammer-like maw and armored neck.

"Well, you're magnificent!" He praised. The dragon responded with a loud roar which made Stoick cover his ears. "And you've got a lot to say, don't you?" Another roar from the dragon. "Now, let's see if you can back it up."

With that he gave a battle-cry and charged right at the dragon. The Rumblehorn did the same. Taking that as their cue, Hiccup and Toothless appeared with a net, ready to throw it at the dragon. Once they were close enough, Hiccup threw the net, but the Rumblehorn, seeing the net dodged it in time.

"Dad! Get out of there!" Hiccup yelled now that their plan failed.

But this was Stoick the Vast he was talking to. "Not a chance!" He yelled back as he and the dragon continue to charge at each other. Stoick used the rope still in his hands to lasso the Rumblehorn by its front horn. The larger dragon tried to break free of its new hold by pulling and knocking the chief around, but no luck. It then tried to fly away only for Stoick to pull it back down. "Oh, no, you don't!"

"Dad, let go of the rope!" Hiccup yelled, hoping his dad would listen for once.

The Rumblehorn tried once again to fly away, this time putting every ounce of strength into it, causing Stoick to lose his footing and hang on to the rope for dear life as they flew higher.

"Dad, don't let go of the rope!" Hiccup yelled as he watched his father get carried off.

Stoick held on to the rope as the dragon flew higher and higher into the air. Unfortunately for him, he lost his grip on the rope and was now free-falling. The Rumblehorn then dived after him.

Despite the situation, the Berkian chief was not afraid when the dragon was flying after him while he was falling. "Oh, you want a piece of me on the way down, do you?! Come and get some! Come on!" He challenged.

But the Rumblehorn didn't get a chance as Hiccup swooped in and rescued the chief.

"We'd better get back to Dragon's Edge for reinforcements." Hiccup said as his father climbed up to the saddle behind him. Toothless sped away as fast as possible

"Agreed." Stoick said before turning back to his opponent, who was still there. "This isn't over, Rumblehorn!"

(Linebreak)

Scrimgin's disease: a very rare but very dangerous disease that can affect both humans and dragons. If it discovered in its early stage and treated immediately, it is curable

That's what Lockjaw had.

And thankfully, Gothi had the supplies needed to treat this disease.

Now medicated, Lockjaw was asleep surrounded by his four dragon friends while Henry was at the side mentally berating himself.

'Scrimgins' disease.' He thought to himself. 'Of course, the signs were all there! How could I have possibly missed this. Dad made sure I-'

He immediately stopped his train of thought, otherwise it would bring back bad memories.

"Henry?" A voice caught his attention.

He turned to look at Hicca, the person who has saved two of his dragons already.

"You okay?" She asked.

"Y-yeah." He muttered. He then thought of something. "How did you already know about Lockjaws' cold temperature?"

"Well I… I know you told me it wasn't needed but I gave Lockjaw a quick check up while you weren't there and I found the symptoms." She explains rubbing the back of her neck.

"Huh? I didn't think you'd be bothered with that. You and your twin seemed to have other things in mind." He admitted.

What neither of them noticed was Raeda watching them from the side, waiting to ask Hicca about going back to the Edge.

"We did, but I have complete faith that Hiccup, my dad and the rest of our friends could handle that situation without us. Besides, you looked so worried for Lockjaw, I wanted to help." She said.

"Thanks." Was all he said, a small smile appearing on his face.

It was there when the two of them were silently looking at each other, when Raeda looked back and forth between them and a thought came to her.

'Oh my Thor! Is it possible? Are they? Does he? Does SHE?' She stepped back, putting her hand to her mouth. In all the years of friendship and sisterhood, she has never seen Hicca look at any other guy like that before. Right now it feels like she and the other dragons and Gothi should leave because it needs to be just Hicca and Henry in this moment. Is that how the two were viewing this moment right now?

"You see what I'm seeing, right girl?" Rae asked her dragon who was near her. "Who would have thought?"

"Well, with Lockjaw needing treatment and rest, we'll be staying here a little longer." Henry said, breaking the silence.

"Hey, who knows? Maybe Berk will start growing on you guys." Hicca said.

"Yeah, well, I should go check on Lockjaw." He said, walking towards his dragons.

Raeda decided to take that as her cue. "We should be heading back to the edge as well, Hicca. I'm sure Gothi can take care of the rest from here."

That's when Hicca remembered the Rumblehorn situation. "That's right we should go." She went to Midnight

Raeda thought about it for a moment. 'They could definitely work' She thought to herself.

"Rae?" Hicca called, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Coming." Rae said as she and Sparkfire followed.

(Linebreak)

Night set in when the Haddock men and Night Fury return to the base where the others were still working to keep their place fortified.

"Hicca and Raeda aren't back?" Hiccup asked, once he saw no signs of either girls.

"No." Astrid answered.

"Where's Gobber?" Stoick asked.

His answer came chasing after a boar. "Yoo-hoo! Come back, please."

"Boar pit?" Snotlout offered.

"Okay, Gobber accounted for." Hiccup said, dismayed as his mentor has yet to recover.

"Hiccup, did you find the Rumblehorn?" Astrid asked.

"More like he found us." The auburn boy answered.

Stoick chuckled as he remembered their encounter with the tough dragon. "Gave us a good run, that one."

"We're gonna resupply, and then we all need to go look for it." Hiccup ordered.

"Eh, I bet I can find him, like right now." Tuffnut stated, looking up at the sky.

"Oh, really." Snotlout scoffed, rolling his eyes. He was thinking that the Thorston boy would probably come up with a ridiculous plan to find the elusive dragon.

"Oh, yeah."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah."

"How's that?" The Jorgenson boy challenged.

"Wait for it." Tuffnut still kept his eyes on the sky and then he pointed. "Bing!"

The others looked to where he was pointing to find that the Rumblehorn had actually managed to locate them and was heading their way.

"What the... Ah!" Hiccup groaned, definitely wasn't prepared for round two so soon. "Hey, everybody? On your dragons! We need to draw him away from Dragon's Edge!" As the others got on their dragons, Hiccup looked up at the Rumblehorn. "It tracked us all the way here!"

"Impressive." Stoick praised.

"Dad, let's catch him first. Then we can admire him." Hiccup suggested as the group flew to the air. He then noticed the Night Terrors flying away from the island. "Where are all the Night Terrors going?"

"And why isn't the Rumblehorn following us?" Stoick wondered when he noticed the Rumblehorn not behind them.

"Because it's following him." Hiccup answered once he saw who the Rumblehorn was targeting.

The target was Gobber who was still in a hazy state and was still chasing after a boar. "Mr. Boar, come back, please. I just want to have a friendly chat."

Toothless dived down after the Rumblehorn, but didn't couldn't catch up to it fast enough.

"Let's get his attention, bud." Hiccup said to Toothless.

The Night Fury fired several plasma blasts, but the Rumblehorn dodged them all and kept going. It landed and gave out a loud roar, causing the remaining Night Terrors to fly away. It then charged at Gobber.

"Stormfly, spine shot!" Astrid commanded. The Nadder fired, but the Rumblehorn didn't bother to dodge as the spines bounced off its skin and continued on it's path.

The other dragons fired at the Rumblehorn as well but were also unsuccessful in stopping the dragon.

"For as powerful as that dragon is, he doesn't seem to have a real thirst for blood." Stoick noted.

"Not yet, but it's still going after Gobber." Hiccup argued. "I hate to do this, but it's the Rumblehorn or Gobber." He had Toothless fly closer to the Rumblehorn. "We may only get one shot at this, bud. Let's make it count!"

For the first time ever, there was a role reversal between father and son. Hiccup was ready to strike as soon as possible without a second thought. Stoick, on the other hand was wondering why the Rumblehorn was going after the most vulnerable and harmless target instead of the ones that were actually attacking it. "This doesn't make any sense. Unless... Hiccup, wait!" He managed to stop Toothless from firing.

"Dad, what are you doing?" Hiccup asked.

"Not so fast, you." The dazed Gobber said, stroking the boar who got tired by the chase. The Rumblehorn then came up to the two, causing the boar to run away. Gobber turned around to face the dragon who roared right in its face! "Oh, look, it's Pepe, my favorite pet yak. We didn't eat you on Snoggletog morning after all." He then hugged the perplexed Rumblehorn.

"If that dragon wanted to hurt people, he'd have done it by now." Stoick pointed out. "Something else is going on here."

"Like what?" Hiccup questioned.

"Only one way to find out. Put me down next to him."

Toothless landed right next to Gobber and the Rumblehorn, the former speaking in baby-talk to the latter.

"Stoick, you remember Pepe?" Gobber asked turning to his friend.

"Yes, yes, Gobber." Stoick said to the still-concussed blacksmith. "Pepe and I need to have a wee talk."

Gobber then went to Hiccup. "Hiccup, have you met Pepe?"

"Oh, God." Hiccup groaned.

Stoick walked up to the Rumblehorn, who gave out a growl but didn't attack the human. "What is it you really want, dragon?" The dragon looked out at the sea. Stoick turned to his son. "I think this dragon is trying to tell us something."

The Rumblehorn gave out another roar. All the dragons seemed to have understood and started flying higher into the air.

"What is happening, what is happening, what is happening?" Fishlegs said, panicking as Meatlug started flying on her own.

"I think you're right." Hiccup said to his dad.

The Rumblehorn then tossed the chief into the air and onto it's back.

"Dad!" Hiccup yelled as the Rumblehorn flew off with his dad. He immediately got on Toothless. "Go get 'em, bud!"

The group of four flew out into sea and something caught Stoicks' eyes that made him realise what the dragon was trying to tell them.

"Son, out there!"

Hiccup followed to where his dad was pointing and saw it as well. "The sea level... is it rising?"

They then flew to the others and told them what they discovered. "There's a giant wave headed for us. The Rumblehorn knew it and was trying to get us to leave." Hiccup informed. "He was trying to save us! That explains why he was chasing Gobber."

"I'm not buying it. Okay, guys, real quick… How long does it take to learn to swim?" Tuffnut asked.

"No one has to swim. We just need to block the wave from hitting the camp." Hiccup said.

"Isn't it a little late for that, Hiccup?" Snotlout questioned, as he saw the tide coming closer and closer.

"No! Gobber's rock wall... that's big enough to stop the wave." Astrid said. "We just need to reinforce it."

The group wasted no time getting to work on reinforcing the wall, using what they could find to make it taller and stronger.

Fishlegs kept his eyes out for the tide. "The wave's coming! Hurry! The wall's not going to be high enough to stop that wave!" He exclaimed.

"And it's cracking!" Astrid said.

Stoick then got an idea. "You handle the cracks, son! I've got an idea." He and the Rumblehorn flew off.

Hiccup knew better than to question the idea at this point. "You heard the man!"

"On it!" Astrid nodded. She directed Stormfly to some of the holes on the wall. "Stormfly, spine shot!" Stormfly spikes were able to plug the holes.

Fishlegs had Meatlug fired lava blasts at some parts of the wall to mold the rocks together and cover the cracks.

Stoick and the Rumblehorn flew to a large sea-stack that overlooked the island. The chief watched as the tide rapidly approached the island. "All right, then, let's finish what you started." The Rumblehorn was all too happy to comply. He charged at the large sea-stack. "Full speed, big fella!" With all its might, the dragon rammed right into the sea-stack, causing it to fall over and act as another barrier.

A second later the tide hit. Although it was strong, it was no match against the sea-stack and the wall and as a result, the tide got evenly distributed around the island, saving all of its inhabitants.

(Linebreak)

Hicca, Raeda, Sparkfire and Midnight finally made it back to the edge and met up with the others on the docks.

"Sis, Rae, glad to see you both. What happened on Berk?" Hiccup asked.

"There was a serious medical emergency that I was able to spot. It's kind of a long story." Hicca said.

'Yep, medical emergency. Only significant thing that happened back there.' Raeda thought to herself, looking at Hicca. She then turned to the others. "So what happened to the Rumblehorn? And why are there barriers on one side of the island?"

"It was amazing! If that Rumblehorn hadn't warned us, we would have been wiped out." Fishlegs said in awe of the turn of events. He and the others were at the docks and watched as Stoick and the Rumblehorn flew back towards them.

"What?" Both girls asked in confusion.

"Also long story. Basically, it turns out the Rumblehorn was not our enemy and dad has a new companion now." Hiccup explained.

They watched as Stoick and the Rumblehorn flew back to them, Hicca and Raeda both itching to know what they missed. "Look at this guy. He is amazing." Fishlegs said.

"Yes! You can say that again, Fishlegs." Stoick agreed, very much impressed with the strength his new friend displayed.

"You know, guys, this is a whole new class of dragon." Fishlegs noted. "We need a name."

"Well, it tracked us down. How about Tracker Class?" Hiccup suggested.

Snotlout scoffed at that. "Tracker Class? Yeah, right! That sounds like something I would come up with."

"Perfect."

"Tracker Class it is." Fishlegs agreed.

Snotlout was dismayed at that, because he actually was thinking of suggesting that. "What?! You like it?! Aw, come on!"

The finally recovered Gobber joined the group. "Gobber, I sure am glad you're back to normal."

"'Back to normal?' What happened to you, Gobber?" Hicca questioned.

"Yeah, not sure what all went on, but I'm sore in places I didn't know I had." The blacksmith said. He then got on his boat and set off for the long journey back to Berk.

"Well, kids, I'm glad I let you two insist I come here." Stoick said.

"Glad to see you looking happier." Hicca said, even though she doesn't know how it happened.

"You know, Dad, when we first came back to Berk, I thought you might be missing me and Hicca. But it was Thornado all along." Hiccup said, having put the pieces together. Really he should have realised when he saw the saddle.

"Aw, I do miss that magnificent beast. We had some connection, he and I." Stoick said as he thought of the blue Thunderdrum.

"Oh, I get it. No, I can't imagine what it would be like without Toothless." Hiccup said fully understanding.

"Or without Midnight." Hicca added.

"Well, Thornado will never be replaced, but this guy... we're a lot alike, he and I." Stoick said. "We're both protectors, we're both leaders."

"And you're both hard-headed." Gobber added, rolling his eyes.

"Hard-headed, you say? Skull-crushing's more like it." Stoick countered, before an idea came to him. "Wait, that's what we'll call you. Skullcrusher!" Satisfied with the name, he got on his new dragon, ready for the flight home. The Haddock twins were about to turn and leave the docks when their father called out to them.

"And by the way, kids? I do miss you two. A lot, in fact." He said, which caused his children to smile. The chief then looked back at his dragon. "Alright, big fella. Let's get back to Berk. I've got the perfect saddle waiting for you."

Once the pair took off, Hiccup turned to the others. "Alright, guys, we have a lot of work to do. So let's get to it."

"You need to tell us what happened." Hicca insisted to her brother.

"And don't you dare leave anything out." Raeda insisted.

"Well, dad and I reached back to the edge…"


	9. Quake, Rattle, Roll

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything from How to train your dragon or its franchise**

 **Chapter 9: Quake, Rattle, Roll**

Today the Dragon Riders were working to improve the Edge's defense against enemy attack. Hiccup and Hicca were working on their newest invention, a large spyglass.

Hiccup hammered in the bolts on one spot to keep it secure. Toothless joined him. "All right. I think one more plasma blast should do the trick, bud." The teen said to his dragon. He didn't need to say anymore as the Night Fury gave one blast right at the spot Hiccup wanted, though he didn't really warn his human to stand back. "Whoo! Great job!" He said, coughing.

Astrid checked the view of the spyglass. "Nice. I can see straight to the horizon."

"That should definitely make it harder for anyone to sneak up on us." Hicca said.

"I wonder how the Thorston twins' lookout tower is coming along." Hiccup said.

"I can only imagine." Astrid commented, crossing her arms.

Of course, with the history of how the Thorston twins handle any task given to them, it was no surprise to assume the worse. What was a surprise, however, was how the lookout tower actually turned out.

"Ah, yeah, oh." Ruffnut muttered as she and her brother took a step back to view their finished tower.

"Hey. Does something seem off to you?" Tuffnut asked his twin.

"Yeah. This should have fallen down a long time ago." Ruffnut answered.

Tuffnut started to get a thought. "Maybe we actually did something... No, that's impossible."

"Say it." Ruff dared.

"Something... right?"

His twin gasped at the realisation.

"Ugh. I have a weird feeling inside. Is that accomplishment?" Tuffnut wondered.

"Whoa! I think I feel it, too." Ruffnut said. "Quick! Let's go rub it in Hiccup's and Hicca's faces before the feeling subsides!"

They immediately got on their dragon and flew to where the Haddock twins were.

(Linebreak)

Meanwhile in the clubhouse, Fishlegs and Meatlug were doing a thorough study of all the contents in the Dragon Eye lenses they found so far. "Hmm. Ooh. Wow. Very interesting." Fishlegs muttered as he jotted down notes. Once he finished, he turned to Meatlug. "Okay, girl, let's move on to rock experiment test subject number three... river stones."

"Hey! What you doing, Fishlegs?" Snotlout asked, leaning on the frame of the door

"Oh, hey, Snotlout. Well, if you're asking me I'm testing how different rocks make Meatlug produce different flame and how that changes the projections in the Dragon Eye." Fishlegs explained, while feeding Meatlug said rocks.

Snotlout, however, wasn't that interested. "Oh, that's right. I just remembered, you're boring and I don't care." He rolled his eyes and walked away.

Meatlug spewed some lava on the floor, ready to be used. "Yup! Couldn't have put it better myself, girl." He then positioned the Dragon Eye, so that the lava could reveal the contents on the lens. "Ooh, even more interesting."

(Linebreak)

"Hicca! Hiccup! Drop everything you're doing and bring your faces." Tuffnut demanded as they landed next to the Haddock twins and Astrid.

"Prepare to be rubbed." Ruffnut said grinning.

The blonde twins gathered Hiccup, Hicca, Astrid, Raeda and Snotlout to where they built the tower. "Dragon riders, you asked for it! We built it." Tuffnut announced. "Presenting you…" He gestured to his sister who made a trumpet noise. "...with your new rock lookout tower!"

As proud of a moment this was for the Thorston twins, the others were unimpress. That was because there was no rock tower to look at.

"You guys never disappoint, do you?" Snotlout said drily.

The blonde twins looked out at the sea and found their tower missing. "What? No! Wait! It was here a minute ago!" Tuff insisted. He then glared at his twin. "What did you do with it, Ruffnut?"

"I didn't do anything with it!" Ruff argued.

"You lying she-beast! You were always jealous of my rock tower." Her twin accused.

"Your rock tower?!" Ruffnut repeated in disbelief. "It was my rock tower!"

She then tackled him to the ground and the two twins started fighting. Astrid, Raeda, Hicca and Hiccup looked at the fighting twins in disbelief, while Snotlout was getting a kick out of this.

The blonde twins then drew a distance between each other, only to draw out there weapons and charge at each other. Hiccup and Hicca quickly stepped in between the two before they could strike.

"Okay, okay, okay. Let's everyone step away from the sharp objects." Hiccup said as he and his sister put their arms up.

"Look, maybe this job was just too tough for you to do alone." Hicca suggested. "We can always put Astrid on the project with you."

"Uh. Hicca, let's not be hasty." Astrid said, not wanting to work with the blonde twins.

"Okay, maybe Raeda." Hiccup suggested.

"Um….." Raeda trailed, also not wanting to agree to this.

"But we did build it. Honest." Ruffnut insisted.

"Trust me, H square, no one was more surprised about that than we were." Tuffnut agreed.

"Hiccup! Hicca! Come quickly!" Fishlegs shouted from the Clubhouse.

"That does not sound good." Astrid said.

(Linebreak)

The twins quickly made their way to the Clubhouse

"Fishlegs?" Hiccup called, as they entered.

"Careful where you step." Fishlegs warned.

The twins looked down and saw a floor covered with different colored lavas.

They carefully walked around it. "Fishlegs, what's wrong?" Hicca asked.

"Wrong?" Fishlegs chuckled at that "Nothing's wrong. Except that I may have just made the greatest discovery in the history of Berkian civilization!"

The twins looked up and saw what the projections of the Dragon Eye showed. "Oh, Fishlegs, is that…" Hiccup started to asked.

"Mm-hmm, this is a Gronckle and here is the boulder surrounded by water and the dual mountain peaks." Fishlegs confirmed, getting excited. "Ooh! Dark Deep!"

"The ancestral home of all the Gronckles." Hicca said in awe.

"It's real, guys. And we finally found it." Fishlegs said, getting more excited.

"Yeah. What's so great about this?" Snotlout asked, having walked in.

"Do I really have to explain?" Fishlegs asked,

"Your boring discovery? Yes."

"Dark Deep is an island that, up until now, we were never really sure existed." Fishlegs started to explain. "It's not in the Book of Dragons anywhere. However, in Bork's papers, there is a mention of it, but only briefly and in context to a completely different species. If we were able to find Dark Deep, it could unlock so many secrets, not only of Gronckles, but the entire Boulder Class of dragons. Do you understand how amazing this is?"

Hicca and Hiccup looked back at Snotlout, who was more focused on cleaning his right ear. He then noticed the twins looking at him. "Check that! I absolutely don't care." With that, he left the Academy.

"Hiccup, Hicca, I've taken the liberty of charting a course based on these encryptions." Fishlegs continued, not bothered by Snotlout. "This island so remote, is farther than we've ever flown before." Meatlug then bounded over to them in excitement. "I've never seen Meatlug so excited. Just think, I'm gonna be the first Berkian to ever set foot on Dark Deep. What an honor."

"Okay. I get it, Fishlegs. But Toothless, Midnight, Hicca and I should go with you, just in case you need help." Hiccup offered.

"Yeah, you never know what could happen." Hicca agreed.

"Okay, you can come, too." Fishlegs agreed, though a little reluctant. "But I'm the first one to step foot, remember? You guys can decided who will be the second and third."

"Okay, we promise." Hicca said as her brother nodded in agreement.

"Well, then welcome aboard, guys." Fishlegs said, before turning to his dragon. "Come on, Meatlug, we need to go pack!"

(Linebreak)

The next morning, the Haddock twins and the Night Furies were outside the Clubhouse, preparing their supplies for the trip. They stopped when they heard groans coming from the side. They turned to find Ruffnut and Tuffnut slouched over as they walked.

"Uh, Ruff, Tuff?" Hiccup called out.

"Keep it down, will you?" Ruffnut said, groggily. "We were up all night rebuilding the lookout tower from scratch."

"Hey, great! Well, we should have a look at it then, shouldn't we?" Hicca said, impressed already.

"Get ready to feast your eyes." Tuffnut said yawning.

However when they arrived at the same place, Hiccup and Hicca once again didn't seem too impressed. "Okay, so what should our eyes be feasting on, exactly?" Hiccup asked.

"Well, the tower…" Tuffnut answered as he and his twin turned around, only to find the tower missing again! "Oh, come on!" He then thought of something. "Wait. Maybe we were pointing in the wrong direction. No, that's it. Left of the chicken. Hi, chicken." Chicken clucked in response. "Somebody keeps stealing our tower!"

"Oh, come on! You know no one's going to admit to it." Ruffnut said. She then started walking away. "Let's just go rebuild the stupid thing."

"Can't trust anyone on this outpost." Tuffnut said, walking with his twin.

"Yeah. You're all a bag of liars." Ruff agreed.

Hicca then stopped them. "Hey, Ruff, Tuff? Why don't you rebuild the tower after taking a nap?"

Tuffnut then yawned. "Huh? Well, I guess we could get a wink or two-" He and Ruffnut promptly fell asleep in the sand.

Hicca turned to her twin. "I haven't seen them this dedicated since Tuffnut set out to find what he thought was a 'yak dragon'. And he wasn't completely wrong."

"Let's go with Fishlegs to Dark Deep right now. Then when we get back and these two wake up, we can resolve this matter." Hiccup suggested.

(Linebreak)

Dark Deep At last I've found you

Dark Deep The Gronckles surround you

Fishlegs sang on the way to the destination.

Hiccup chuckled at his friends enthusiasm. "Fishlegs, I haven't seen you this excited since Snoggletog morning when we were seven."

"Whoo-whoo! I know. I couldn't even finish third breakfast." Fishlegs agreed. "I hope I don't get too hungry."

Dark Deep, here we come.

Soon the group reached Dark Deep and as promised, Fishlegs and Meatlug were the first to set foot on the island. The land was barren with an abundance of rocks and boulders.

"Whoo!" Fishlegs immediately jumped off Meatlug and surveyed the area in excitement. "Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, Fishlegs! I can't believe I'm actually here." Meatlug growled to get her humans' attention. "Sorry, girl. We're here." He corrected, feeding her some rocks from the ground.

Dark Deep is your home

Where all the rock eaters roam

Where Gronckles have fun

Eating rocks by the ton

And the rocks are all rocky

With families of rocks

And they feeding their...

Fishlegs paused in his singing when he couldn't think of any new lines. "I'll work on that last part, guys."

But the song didn't seem to be the problem for the Haddock twins. "Hey, no look, we love the song. It's just one thing." Hicca said.

"Where are the roaming Gronckles?" Hiccup questioned. "You think, we could've landed on the wrong…"

"No. That's Gravel Lake and that's definitely the dual peaks of Mount Grunt." Fishlegs informed. "Hiccup, this is Dark Deep."

Toothless and Midnight both rumbled their concerns. Something was definitely off with this island.

"Yeah, I'm with you, guys." Hiccup agreed.

"There's something going on." Hicca said.

Meatlug gave a roar to get the others attention. The others went to where she was which was in front of a trench and in that trench were three Gronckles of different colors.

"Oh, look. Meatlug found some new friends." Fishlegs said. "Told you there were Gronckles here."

Meatlug flew down to socialize with her newfound friends. However, these Gronckles weren't as friendly as she and Fishlegs thought as they started growling at her once they saw her.

Fishlegs, Hiccup, Hicca and the Night Furies joined Meatlug at the bottom of the trench, with the blonde boy climbing down, then slipping and falling in.

"That's strange behavior for a Gronckle." Hiccup noted as he saw the unwelcoming Gronckles. "They're usually pretty friendly."

Suddenly the ground started shaking.

"That could be what's doing it. No one likes an earthquake." Fishlegs suggested.

The ground shook again and Midnight and Toothless were suddenly on guard. "See?"

But the group soon discovered that it wasn't actually an earthquake that was causing the ground to shake, as a large boulder was rolling towards them at high speed!

"Runaway boulder!" Fishlegs warned running to Meatlug. He and the other two humans quickly got on their dragons and flew away with the other Gronckles from the boulder.

"Fishlegs!" Hiccup called.

Thinking quick, the two Night Furies pushed Meatlug and the other three Gronckles to a side on the wall, successfully avoiding the boulder as it rolled by.

"That was close." Fishlegs said, breathing a sigh of relief.

But he and the others were in for a shock, as the boulder suddenly stopped and started rolling back towards them!

"Hey, Hicca? Fishlegs? When was the last time either of you saw a boulder roll uphill?" Hiccup questioned.

"I haven't." Hicca answered

"Um... never?" Fishlegs answered.

"Yeah. Me, neither." Hiccup agreed.

"How is that possible?" Hicca questioned.

"No time to find out!" Hiccup yelled.

The dragons once again flew away from the boulder.

Fishlegs looked up to find a way out from above, unfortunately the space was too narrow for the dragons to fly out. "We can't avoid it!"

Midnight and Toothless fired plasma blasts at the boulder to try and stop it, but it had no effect. Luckily Hiccup managed to spot a side tunnel.

"Quick, down here." He guided.

The dragons quickly took a sharp turn following Toothless in the tunnel and once again avoided the boulder, with the three Gronckles falling into a pile.

Hicca looked around hoping to find a way out from there, unfortunately couldn't find one. "It doesn't look like we can fly out, guys."

Fishlegs checked the tunnel they came from. "It's okay. I think we lost it."

"Then let's move out. Quietly." Hiccup said.

The group cautiously and quietly walked out from the tunnel, eyes sharp on the boulder. They got a jolt when they heard some rumbling, only to discover it coming from Fishlegs' stomach.

"What? That's what happens when you don't eat third breakfast." He defended in a low voice.

They heard some more rumbling which this time was not coming from Fishlegs stomach. The boulder once again was coming back towards them!

But they were once again taken by surprise when the boulder started slowly down, revealing what it was really was.

"Uh, guys?" Fishlegs called.

"We see it, Fishlegs." Hiccup said.

"Not a boulder." Hicca added.

The "boulder" unwraps itself to reveal a dragon. A large dragon with a rocky skin, a large tail and spikes all over its body. But what was most distinct about it was that its jaw was split in half, revealing two tongues.

It then let out a loud roar and smashed its tail at them, causing the rocks to fall from above. The teens quickly took cover under their dragons.

"Impressive. Definitely a Boulder Class." Fishlegs noted. "Hicca, Hiccup, what you two think of "Catastrophic Quaken" as the name?"

"Well I think, we should name it later and focus on not getting killed by it now." Hiccup suggested.

"I agree with that." Hicca said.

Toothless fired at the Quaken once again, but it only served to aggravate it. "As long as it's rolled up in that ball, I think we're safe. Fishlegs, get those Gronckles in the air." Fishlegs and the Gronckles didn't waste a second flying out of the trench, which expanded thanks to the Quaken causing the rocks to fall.

Hiccup and Hicca quickly followed after them.

But then the Quaken followed them out. It then, rolled back into a ball and slammed its body on the ground, causing the sending everyone flying in different directions.

"Okay, we are definitely not so safe at all. We need to get out of here." Hicca said to her brother.

She didn't need to tell him twice. "Fishlegs, Meatlug, retreat."

"I thought you'd never ask." Fishlegs said. He and Meatlug quickly flew to the three Gronckles.

"Okay. Come on."

Fortunately, they managed to safely escape the island with the three Gronckles in tow.

(Linebreak)

"Really? More Gronckles?" Snotlout complained, once the group made it back to the Edge

"Just a few stray Gronckles. We should be able to handle that." Hiccup said.

"Just a few strays, he says." Ruffnut scoffed.

"Yeah, you should really have a look at this." Astrid said.

"Yeah this island is starting to get a little crowded." Raeda agreed.

Hiccup, Hicca, Fishlegs and their dragons followed the others and were surprised to discover a herd of Gronckles that were inhabiting their island.

Which could explain what happened to the Thorston twins rock tower.

"So this is where all the Gronckles from Dark Deep went." Hicca said.

"Can you believe they flew all this way?" Fishlegs asked in awe. "Gronckles may be slow, but they are tenacious."

"Yeah. Tell me about it." Tuffnut muttered. He then noticed one of the Gronckles eating a boulder. "Hey! Don't you put that rock in your mouth. You have no idea where it's been, mister. Shoo!" He then started chasing after the Gronckle.

"Hiccup, these guys are out of control. We have to get them back to their island." Astrid insisted.

"There might be a problem with that. They've been chased from their homeland by a giant Boulder Class dragon." Hiccup explained.

"The Catastrophic Quaken, to be exact." Fishlegs added.

"Quaken Shmaken. You let one lousy dragon take over Meatlug's entire island?" Snotlout questioned.

"It's not that simple, Snotlout." Fishlegs tried to explain.

"Oh. Sure it is. Quaken, one. Meatlug-" He made a buzzer sound with a thumbs down sign. "Pathetic."

"Okay. Let's just drop it. We have a bigger problem here. We need to wrangle all these wild Gronckles." Hiccup said.

"And since Hiccup and I unfairly doubted the Ruff and Tuff, they should be in charge." Hicca finished.

"Awesome." Tuffnut said, joining the group with a rock in his hand. "It'll be nice to get to know these guys a little bit better. We got off to a little bit of a rocky start on our relationship." He laughed at his own joke, but stopped when he noticed the others weren't laughing. "You see what I did there? I'll explain it later. My humor can be quite complex."

The blonde twins gathered all twenty Gronckles into the Academy and worked with Barf and Belch to keep them in line.

"Back in line, Tuffnut Junior. You, too, Junior Tuffnut." Tuffnut ordered. He then noticed another Gronckle growling at him. "What was that? Tell me you didn't just back-sass me, Junior Tuffnut, Junior."

"I got you now!" Ruffnut exclaimed.

"Bad dragon!" Tuffnut exclaimed

Fishlegs and Meatlug were sitting outside the Arena, watching the situation. Meatlug warbled, looking worried. "Don't worry, girl. I'll figure out how to get those Gronckles back home. There has to be a way."

"Sounds like someone has a problem that needs some solving." Snotlout piped in, he and Hookfang joining the boy and Gronckle. "Well, consider this your lucky day, Fishlegs. Because the answer man has arrived."

"Snotlout?" Fishlegs questioned.

"That's right. And I'm going to help you get Dark Deep back for those Gronckles." Snotlout declared.

"You don't understand." Fishlegs said, getting up.

"Yeah. Look at me, then look at you. You're much bigger than me, right?" Snotlout asked

"Yes."

"But your boot's untied." Snotlout pointed to Fishlegs boots.

Fishlegs looked down to where Snotlout was pointing, allowing the shorter boy to use the hand he was using to point to smack him in the face, causing him to fall backwards.

"Hey, my boot doesn't have laces!" Fishlegs realised.

"The only way to get rid of this Quaken and that is to push him off Dark Deep. And the only way to do that is to fight dirty." Snotlout informed.

But Fishlegs was a bit reluctant about that idea. "Oh-oh. I don't think so."

"Fishlegs! Do you want to be you, or do you want to win?" The Jorgenson boy questioned.

"I want to win, but not your way." With that he walked away to look for Hiccup and Hicca.

"Oh, you'll be back!" Snotlout said to Fishlegs retreating form. "They always come back! He'll be back." He addressed that last sentence to Hookfang.

(Linebreak)

Fishlegs found Hiccup at the forge hammering at the rod part of Toothless' prosthetic tail. "Hey, what are you up to?"

"Uh, just strengthening the iron in this tail-piece. Toothless keeps bending it when he makes turns." Hiccup explained. "Don't you, bud? So what's up?"

"I was just wondering what the plan was." Fishlegs asked.

"The plan?" Hiccup repeated.

"For Dark Deep? The Quaken? How are we gonna get rid of it?" The blonde boy elaborated.

"Oh, yeah. Hicca and I have been talking about that, Fishlegs. And I'm not so sure we should, get rid of it, that is."

"What?" Fishlegs questioned, not believing what he was hearing.

"Well, we're not sure that we have the right to interfere. I mean, that's what happens in nature, all the time. The Quaken has taken over the island for now. And one day, maybe a bigger dragon will come along and the Quaken will be chased off. You know, who's to say?" Hiccup explained. He noticed the dejected look on the Ingerman boys face. "I'm sorry, Fishlegs."

Fishlegs walked away disappointed in Hiccup and Hiccas' decision.

(Linebreak)

Fishlegs couldn't stop thinking about the Gronckles who were being chased out of their island by the Catastrophic Quaken.

That night, he dreamt about being back on that island trying to get two Gronckles away from the Quaken who was rolling after them.

"Come on! Follow me, hurry, hurry! This way! Come on! Keep up!" Fishlegs urged, running as fast as he possibly could.

Suddenly, Snotlout appeared at Fishlegs side, seeming to skid backwards."What did I tell you? You'll be back. They always come back." He laughed before disappearing.

Fishlegs woke up from his bed screaming. "Nooo!"

Taking deep breaths and recovering from his nightmare, Fishlegs decided at that moment that he could not follow Hiccup and Hicca's decision. He is going to do something about the Quaken.

(Linebreak)

The next morning, Snotlout was lying down on a few barrels, snoozing under the sun. He opened his eyes, when he noticed a shadow in front of his face.

"I can't believe I'm actually gonna say this, but teach me everything you know, Snotlout." Fishlegs said.

"You came back?" Snotlout asked, sounding surprise. The barrels he was lying on then tipped over, causing the teen to fall. "Ahh!" He quickly recovered. "Of course he came back. I knew he would." Hookfang snorted some smoke in his riders face. "Hookfang."

"Um, let's just keep this between us, we don't wanna bother Hicca or Hiccup with any of this." Fishlegs said.

"I feel you on that." Snotlout agreed. "Now, it's time to get dirty."

The two boys and their dragons went to the forest to avoid getting caught by either of the Haddock twins.

"The key to fighting dirty is never face your opponent." Snotlout explained. "Look at the sky. Your boots. Anything but their eyes. Then lower the boom when they least expect it!"

One of the training exercises included Meatlug trying to push a large rock with an picture of an evil dragon painted on it. Unfortunately she couldn't get it to budge.

"Come on, girl." Fishlegs encouraged.

Meatlug then decided to charge at the rock. That resulted in the Gronckle getting a headache and the rock getting pushed an inch, although it did break into pieces.

Unfortunately, what the two boys didn't take account of was Hicca walking in the forest as well, doing a few tasks. She stopped when she noticed them. The guys quickly ran off to pretend to do other things, while Meatlug ate the broken pieces of rock before flying away as well.

Shrugging, the Haddock girl continued on with her tasks.

Once she was gone. Snotlout and Hookfang walked back into the clearing and were ambushed when Fishlegs and Meatlug fell on top of them.

"Bull's-eye." Snotlout breathed out.

Hicca walked back to the clearing when she spotted Snotlout and Fishlegs running in circles around a tree with Hookfang and Meatlug doing the same around another tree. She couldn't think of what they could possibly be doing, so she just decided to walk away.

The boys went back to the first exercise, with Meatlug trying to push the rock. The Gronckle once again charged after the rock. However, this time, Fishlegs stepped in front of the rock, causing Meatlug to change her direction and tackle Snotlout instead.

And once again, this was witnessed by Hicca.

"Well, well, well, I didn't think it was possible... what with you being all "you" and all." Snotlout said to Fishlegs, with tissues plugging his nose. "But you're actually ready."

"Do you really think so?" Fishlegs asked, so hopeful

But before Snotlout could answer, another voice startled him, causing him to snort out the tissues. "I knew you were up to something." Hicca said as she and her brother came to the clearing.

The Haddock girl concluded that Fishlegs and Snotlout were acting to weird and secretive in front of her, so she decided to go to Hiccup and to compare notes. The two then concluded that from the events of yesterday, Fishlegs might still be thinking of going after the Quaken.

"Fishlegs, have you been training to take on the Quaken?" Hiccup questioned.

"You don't have to answer that." Snotlout quickly said to the blonde boy.

"Oh, yes, he does." Hicca firmly said. "Fishlegs?"

"Fine." Fishlegs caved, much to Snotlout's annoyance. "Yes, we have. We can't just sit by and let the Quaken take over Dark Deep. You all know the Gronckles can't stay here. This isn't their home, guys. You wanna talk about nature, what's right and who belongs where? The Dragon Eye, it says the Gronckles were supposed to live on Dark Deep and we're gonna make sure they do." Fishlegs defended. After what he learned today, he wasn't ready to give up because Hiccup and Hicca wanted him to. "We're ready for it this time. Look. Meatlug, battle ready!"

Meatlug quickly took a more aggressive look, ready to strike.

Toothless was unimpressed though and quickly fired one plasma blast at the Gronckle, who didn't dodge in time.

"'Battle ready?' Whoa. Fishlegs, this isn't you, it's him." Hiccup said, pointing to Snotlout.

"I know. Great, right?" Snotlout agreed.

"No, not great! You can't listen to Snotlout. That has disaster written all over it." Hiccup warned.

"Hey! I resent that!" Snotlout protested. "When has anything I've ever done ended in disaster? Right, Hookfang? Hookfang?" When he didn't get a response, he turned to find the Monstrous Nightmare flying away from him. "Hookfang!"

"Do you want the whole list Snotlout or part of it?" Hicca asked rhetorically.

Hiccup turned back to Fishlegs. "You're all brain and heart, Fishlegs. Not brawn and bragging."

"But, Hiccup…" Fishlegs started to protest.

"You're right, Fishlegs. They should be back on their own island and you know what, we'll find a way to make that happen, but fighting the Quaken, no, that's not it." With that he and his twin walked away with their dragons and once they left, the Thorston twins appeared on their dragon.

"Um, you didn't happen to see five or twenty wild Gronckles run through here by any chance?" Ruffnut asked the two boys.

"Not that we lost them or anything." Tuffnut said quickly. "Even if we did, we'd deny it."

"How could you lose twenty Gronckles?" Snotlout questioned.

"I know, right? We built a whole new pen for them." Tuffnut said.

"Yeah. Out of rocks." His twin added.

That's when it came to them. "Oh. Right. Rocks. Gronckles." The said in unison.

At least the Gronckles got a good meal.

"Hey. Would you guys might give me a lift back to the clubhouse?" Snotlout asked the blonde twins. "Hookfang is otherwise engaged."

"We'll give you a ride back, Snotlout." Fishlegs offered. "On one condition."

(Linebreak)

The condition was for Snotlout and Hookfang to accompany Fishlegs and Meatlug to Dark Deep.

"I feel bad sneaking away." Fishlegs said to Snotlout once they landed at their destination. "But Meatlug and I were the Gronckles' only hope."

"You did the right thing, Fishlegs." Snotlout reassured. "You can take this dragon and reclaim Dark Deep for the Gronckles!"

Suddenly the ground started shaking. From the cliff above the group rolled down a large boulder. But just like before, the boulder was actually the Catastrophic Quaken in all it's terrifying glory.

Snotlout was in shock when he saw the large dragon unwrap itself. "You never said he was this big! What were you thinking?!"

"You said I did the right thing." Fishlegs pointed out.

"Uh, yeah. That was before I saw it!" Snotlout retorted. The Quaken let out a large roar, terrifying the Jorgenson boy even more. He started inching towards Hookfang. "Um, I'm going to, uh... go get some help! Yeah! Get some help! Oh, he's really big." He jumped on his saddle and got his dragon to fly away without even waiting for Fishlegs. "Retreat! Retreat!"

Fishlegs got a little discouraged when Snotlout left. "Hiccup was right. This isn't us." He said to Meatlug. "But what other choice do we have? For the Gronckles and Dark Deep!" With recharge determination, he got on Meatlug, ready to face the Quaken."

Meatlug roared at the Quaken to challenge it, the Quaken responded by flying towards them with a powerful roar of its' own. "Oh, dear." Fishlegs squeaked.

(Linebreak)

Hiccup and Hicca soon noticed Fishlegs, Snotlout, Meatlug and Hookfang were missing from the Edge and it didn't take them long to realise where the four of them went. The two of them, along with Raeda and Astrid, got on their dragons and flew to Dark Deep as fast as they could.

"Snotlout, I was expecting this from, but Fishlegs? They need to stop spending time with each other." Hicca stated.

"Let's just find these muttonheads before they get themselves killed." Hiccup said.

Astrid spotted something in the distance. "Look there! Muttonhead incoming!"

"But where's the other muttonhead?" Raeda questioned.

"Snotlout! Where's Fishlegs?" Hicca asked, once Snotlout and Hookfang flew close to them.

"You know, that Quaken was a lot bigger than he said it was." Snotlout tried to explained.

"So you just left him?" Hiccup asked in disbelief. "Oh, my gods."

The four wasted no time getting their dragons to fly towards Dark Deep.

Snotlout tried to fly back to the Edge, but Hookfang would let him. Instead, the dragon faced the direction of Dark Deep. His rider could tell what he was thinking. "Oh, fine! But my death is on your horns, Hookfang!"

The duo then joined the others, much to Snotlout's reluctance.

(Linebreak)

Back on the island, Meatlug flew herself and her human away from the larger dragon who was rolling after them. Clearly, Snotlouts' lesson didn't seem to help much.

"Oh, Thor! Oh, Thor!" Fishlegs breathed out, trying to find a way out of this situation. But he and Meatlug couldn't just leave. They still wanted to reclaim the land for the other Gronckles.

The Haddock twins and their group soon arrived at Dark Deep and found Fishlegs and Meatlug being chased. "Fishlegs!" Hiccup yelled.

The group landed and the dragons fired at the Quaken, catching its attention. The larger dragon flew to them and then body-slammed the ground, causing a shockwave sending them all to fly backwards.

Fishlegs then saw the Quaken rolling after him and Meatlug. The duo quickly jumped in a nearby trench for safety.

They ran along the path and soon found a tunnel leading to a cave. Fishlegs looked around the cave and noticed it has been occupied. "The Quaken's cave. It looks like he lives here by himself." Fishlegs then realised it would be better if he and Meatlug left the cave. "Meatlug, let's get out of here."

They exited the cave, only to find that the Quaken found them and was charging after them!

But instead of getting on Meatlug to fly away, Fishlegs took a deep breath and stood his ground. Even after the terror he faced with the Quaken, the teen didn't want to give up. He didn't want to give up on the Gronckles and he didn't want to give up on himself.

The others flew to where they were and noticed Fishlegs wasn't moving. "What is he doing?" Astrid asked.

"It looks like he's getting himself killed!" Snotlout exclaimed.

"This is insane!" Raeda exclaimed.

"Fishlegs, get out of there!" Hiccup yelled.

"You're going to get crushed!" Hicca yelled.

"No. We aren't going anywhere, right, girl?" Fishlegs looked to his dragon for support, which was received. He then stared down the rapidly moving boulder that was heading there way. "I'm not backing down, I'm not backing down, I'm not backing down!" The Quaken then jumped off a boulder in its path and propelled upwards. It landed close to Fishlegs and Meatlug, creating a dust storm.

Once the dust cleared, Fishlegs opened his eyes to find himself intact. "I'm not smushed!" That's when he noticed Meatlug in front of him, glaring at the Quaken, ready to protect her human.

The Quaken unwrapped itself and glared back at the Gronckle, who didn't flinch. Both dragons exchanged growls with one another before the larger dragon starts to relax, much to the surprise of the others. Meatlug then went to snuggle with the Quaken, now that she saw it being more relaxed and friendly.

Fishlegs then carefully approached the Quaken and extended his hand to bond with the larger dragon. And thankfully the dragon nuzzled into it.

"It's working." Fishlegs said.

"It's working." Hiccup and Hicca both said.

That's when the Thorston twins showed up with the twenty Gronckles they managed to find and bring with them. "Hey! I thought everyone said that thing was tough. Doesn't look so tough to me." Tuffnut commented, looking at the Quaken.

The Gronckles on the other hand, where happy to see the Quaken more friendly and approachable and flew towards their new friend.

Toothless and Midnight landed near Fishlegs and the Haddock twins got off. "Fishlegs, that was just about the craziest and bravest, but mostly craziest, thing I have ever seen anyone do." Hiccup said.

"Just when you thought you've seen it all." Hicca commented.

"You were right, Hiccup. Fighting dirty isn't me." Fishlegs said. He looked to the Quaken and the Gronckles, all of whom were ready to put the past behind them. "That was me."

"It sure was." Hicca agreed.

They watched as the Quaken body slammed into a large boulder breaking it down into smaller pieces of rocks for the Gronckles to eat. "The Quaken was just being defensive. It was scared and all by itself. It wasn't angry at all." Fishlegs concluded.

"Oh! Fishlegs, that was awesome! Just like I taught you." Snotlout bragged walking to them. "No need to thank me. Success is its own reward."

The auburn twins just rolled their eyes at their cousin while Fishlegs seemed nonchalant.

"Oh, really, Snotlout? Tell me more!" He said in fake enthusiasm. But he didn't let Snotlout speak. "Oh, yeah, that's right. I just remembered I don't care." With that he walked away.

Snotlout, however, wasn't to deterred or dismayed by that. "I taught him too well." 


	10. Have Dragons Will Travel (Part 1)

**A/N: Happy New Year Readers!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own anything from How to train your dragon.**

 **Chapter 10: Have Dragons Will Travel**

Somewhere beyond the sea, away from Berk, was a lone dragon rider on a mysterious dragon. This dragon rider guided the dragon towards their target; a sailing ship.

Nearby the ship was another ship occupied by two of Berk's farmers/fishermen; Bucket and Mulch. The latter looked up and saw the dragon.

"Well, that's strange." Mulch said to Bucket. "I don't recall ever seeing a dragon that looked quite like that one." He took out his spyglass to get a better look at the dragon.

What he saw was a metallic colored dragon with a long neck and what appears to spikes covering its tail, similar to a Nadder. And if Mulch didn't know any better, there seem to be a human figure on the dragon as well.

Bucket watched as his friends expression changed from curious to concern. "What is it, Mulch? You have that look. I don't like it when you have that look!" Mulch gave Bucket the spyglass to see for himself.

Bucket watched as the mysterious dragon flew over a nearby ship. And to his surprise, he watched as the dragon started attacking the ship, blasting at it and cutting the sail. This caused the passengers of the ship to jumped overboard for safety as the dragon landed there. The human figure dismounting.

"Bucket, what do you see?" Mulch asked, as his friend stood frozen.

"Something I wish I hadn't, Mulch." The larger viking replied.

(Linebreak)

Unaware of this incident, the Dragon Riders were at Berk visiting to catch up with their families and collecting more personal belongings to take back with them to the Edge. For Raeda, she met up with some clients to take new requests for her business.

"Okay, now remember, gang we're only taking absolute necessities to Dragon's Edge." Hiccup reminded the others.

"I guess we're leaving you behind, Fishlegs." Snotlout jeered.

Fishlegs just rolled his eyes at the Jorgenson boy. "Come on. You're better than that, Snotlout. Oh, wait. No, you're not." He retorted. He put the rocks he was holding in the basket attached to Meatlug, which was already filled with rocks just like the basket attached at the opposite side of the dragon. The Gronckle tried to fly with the added weight, but was unable to do so. "Come on, girl, you can do it. Lift with your legs." He encouraged.

'Too...heavy.' The poor Gronckle groaned before falling to the ground, giving up.

"Fishlegs." Hiccup reprimanded.

"What? Berk granite has a nicer finish." The Ingerman boy explained. "And trust me, you want the nicer finish." Meatlug farted. "Point illustrated."

Ruffnut and Tuffnut were at the side, testing out some of the weapons. More like Ruffnut was testing a mace by using it on her brother.

WHACK!

"Not bad. That's a two." Tuffnut said in a daze. "Do it again."

WHACK!

"Uhm. Yeah, three. I still think we could do better." Tuffnut insisted, even though he was dizzy.

"Yes, we can!" Ruffnut all too happily agreed, holding the mace up high.

WHACK!

This time Tuffnut could barely keep himself up. "Ouch!, Oh, yeah, that is a four. Yep. One, two, three, four." He counted the number of Ruffnut's he could see in his dazed state. He promptly fell to the ground.

"I'll tag it and bag it." Ruffnut said, putting the mace in their basket.

"I'll tell you what... any of you four need anything, I'll be right here." Tuffnut slurred, still on the ground.

Henry, who had spotted the Dragon Riders landing, decided to chat with Hicca a bit. He started being more friendly with Hicca ever since she helped Lockjaw, although he didn't really talk to the other teens.

"Catastrophic Quakens?" Henry repeated as Hicca recounted the encounter with those dragons.

"Yeah, and trust me, that nickname is appropriate." Hicca said.

Raeda was with Sparkfire watching the two converse, trying to hide her smile. It's becoming more clear to her that there is definitely something going on between those two, and she couldn't be more happy for the person she considers her sister.

"Which one of the usual suspects was out sinking boats on their dragon this morning? I have my suspicions." Stoick demanded as he, Gobber, Bucket and Mulch walked up to the teens.

The two Fisherman wasted no time finding the chief and reporting what they saw.

"Sinking boats?" Hiccup questioned.

"Bucket and Mulch saw the whole thing." He gestured to the two men who waved at the teens. "And don't try convincing me that there's anyone else in the archipelago who could pull something like this off! Well? I'm waiting."

"It was me, Chief!" Tuffnut suddenly exclaimed, having recovered from his dazed state. He crawled on his knees towards the chief. "I couldn't control myself. I had to do it. What's wrong with me? Why do I do things like this? Why doesn't anybody do anything to stop me? Can't you all see that it's a desperate cry for help?"

Stoick, knowing full well the confession was fake, gave an annoyed sigh and pinch the bridge of his nose.

"What are you talking about?" Ruff asked her twin, walking to him. "None of that happened."

"I know that. But I always wanted to confess to something." Tuff explained. "I didn't overdo it, did I?"

"Yeah. I mean, overall, you seemed grounded, but still it was a little hard to believe." The female twin commented.

Stoick then gave an annoyed growl, and then turned to Henry. "Anything you'd like us to know?"

"Dad, it can't be Henry. He was here since we arrived on Berk this morning." Hicca defended.

"We've been together all morning. It couldn't have been one of us attacking the ship." Hiccup explained to his dad.

"And we wouldn't randomly sink ships unless the crew was attacking us." Raeda added.

Stoick believed them. "Well, if it wasn't one of you, I'd say, we have a much more serious problem on our hands."

"Rogue dragon rider?" Astrid questioned.

"Not good, not good at all." Fishlegs said, worriedly.

"No, it isn't. And we need to find out who it is." Hiccup said. He turned to Henry. "Henry, is there someone else out there you know who also flies dragons, or maybe befriends dragons?"

Henry shook his head. "Before I met any of you, I thought I was the only one."

"How much of the ship was left after the attack?" Hicca asked Mulch and Bucket.

"It was still floating before we left. No doubt abandoned." Mulch answered.

"Then we'll start with the boat." Hiccup said. "If you guys could give us the directions."

An idea then came to Raeda as she and her team-mates got on their dragons. "Hey Henry. How about coming with us to investigate? An extra set of eyes is always helpful, right Hicca?" The Haddock girl would definitely thank her for this in the long run.

"Well, if you want to come, that's fine." Hicca said to Henry, as she got on Midnight.

"Lockjaw still hasn't fully recovered. I don't want to leave him." Henry said.

"Oh, yeah. That's probably a good idea." Hicca said.

Raeda tried not to give an annoyed huff at the missed opportunity. Clearly, she's got some work to do with these two.

(Linebreak)

Soon, the Dragon Riders landed on the ship that was attacked by the rogue dragon riders. "Okay, gang, let's spread out!" Hiccup commanded.

Astrid approached the Haddock twins. "I've been thinking about this rogue dragon rider."

"Dagur." Hiccup said, being able to guess what Astrid was thinking.

"It makes sense. If Dagur has a dragon and is attacking ships, then who's to say we won't be next?" Astrid questioned.

"But Bucket and Mulch were in a ship nearby and they weren't attacked. I don't think Dagur would be one to leave any Berkian unscathed." Hicca pointed out.

"Unless he wanted them to send a message back to us." Hiccup suggested.

"Hicca! Hiccup! You've got to see this." Fishlegs called them to one side of the ship.

The auburn twins looked to where he was and surveyed the damage he was pointing at.

"Those are some deep gashes." Hiccup noted.

"Any idea what it could be?" Hicca asked Fishlegs.

"This dragon is extremely powerful. It has the slashing attack of a Speed Stinger yet from the depth of the strikes it appears to be as strong as a Typhoomerang. Yeah…" Fishlegs observed.

"Could be the same slashing attack used to cut the sail." Raeda added, bringing the sliced off half of the sail towards them. "A really clean, straight line, liked the dragon flew fast while slicing it. No burn marks, which means no fire was used. This kind of craftsmanship can only be achieved using something as sharp as a newly sharpened dagger or sword."

Hiccup turned to the others. "You guys, you find anything else?"

"This ship has been stripped of everything valuable." Astrid reported.

At the side, Ruffnut and Tuffnut seemed to be arguing over something. When the blonde twins noticed they have an audience, they turned towards them with Tuffnut keeping his hands behind his back, clearly hiding something.

"You two find anything?" Hicca asked, though it was more rhetorical.

"Nothing over here." Tuffnut lied. "Right, sis?"

"Nope, no-thing." His twin agreed.

"Zilch. Not a thing in front, behind, or to either side of us." Tuffnut concluded, still keeping his hands behind his back.

"You know I can see that, don't you?" Hiccup questioned.

"We can all see that." Hicca added.

Realising they've been caught, Tuffnut caved. "Alright, alright, but we get to keep it." He brought his hands in front to revealed a metallic spike.

"Yeah, finders keepers." Ruff stated.

"Losers...I... losers don't get this 'cause it's way too cool for a loser." Tuff finished.

"Yeah." Ruff agreed.

"A barb!" Fishlegs observed.

"That looks like one of Stormfly's and Sparkfire's."

"Which means the dragon we're looking for could belong to the Sharp Class. In fact, I'd bet my Meatlug on it!" Fishlegs said with full confidence. Meatlug gave a whine at that, not happy that her human would use her as a betting chip. "No, no, don't worry, girl. It's just an expression. I'd never do that." He reassured.

Hiccup grabbed the barb to get a closer look, but Tuffnut refused to let go.

"Tuff." Hiccup said sternly, trying to get him to let go.

But the blonde still refused and the two boys started playing tug-of-war with the barb. Both of them trying to grab the top part of the barb. It ended when Tuffnut put his hand right on the spike, hurting his palm as a result. This showed just how sharp the barb was.

With the barb now free from Tuffnut's hands, Hiccup was able to inspect it more closely. "Are you guys thinking what I'm thinking?" He asked the others.

"Oooh! Good game, Hiccup! You think of something, and we'll try to guess what it is. If we do, we get a prize." Tuffnut said enthusiastically. "Alright? Think away, my good man. And let the game begin."

"Hmm. Let me see. I'm thinking you two are muttonheads." Snotlout sneered at the blonde boy and his twin.

But that flew above Tuff's head. "Yes! I win!"

As usual, Hicca was able to correctly guess what her twin was thinking. "If we find the dragon, we find the rider."

"Exactly. And I have a pretty good idea of how we can find the dragon." Hiccup said.

(Linebreak)

When the Dragon Riders reached Berk, they went to Bucket and brought him to the Great Hall. There he gave a description of the physical features of the dragon, with Raeda sketching out those features on a shield.

"Sharp! Did I say that it's sharp?" Bucket asked.

"You did, multiple times. I got it." Raeda said, getting irritated at having to hear that for the twentieth time.

"Well, it's got a very long tail. And it can tie itself into a knot." Bucket watched as Raeda drew the exact match of the dragon he saw. "Yes. Yes, that's right. And two large wings to slice."

"Here it is." Raeda said, presenting her work to the other teens.

"So, Fishlegs?" Hiccup asked.

The Ingerman boy inspected the drawing, trying to recall seeing it from the Book of Dragons. "I've never seen anything like this in Book of Dragons or Bork's papers."

"But there is one place we haven't looked yet." Hicca realised.

That place was the Dragon Eye, which has lenses full of information that was neither in the Book of Dragons, nor Borks Papers.

"So, I'm thinking, since Sparkfire and Stormfly are also Sharp Class…" Hicca said as her brother brought the Dragon Eye.

"Their magnesium blast could possibly illuminate some information about this new dragon." Fishlegs finished.

Stormfly volunteered to use her magnesium blast for the Dragon Eye. "Stormfly, easy now. Just enough to light it up." Astrid instructed.

The blue Nadder complied and the wall was suddenly filled with information on Deadly Nadders.

"Deadly Nadder. I must have missed this the first time around." Fishlegs said excitedly. "Who's got some chalk? I have to translate it."

"Fishlegs, now's not the time." Hiccup said, trying to get the dragon analyst back on track. He then turned the dialed to find the dragon they were looking for. The next slide revealed information on Speed Stingers.

"Speed Stinger! One of my favorites. There's always so much to learn." Fishlegs said, more excited.

"Oh, my Thor!" Snotlout groaned.

"I know, Fishlegs. I got it. Later." Hiccup said. He turned the dial again before Fishlegs gets sidetracked once again.

"That's it!" Snotlout pointed to the slide which has a picture of a dragon that was an exact match of Raeda's drawing.

"It's called a Razorwhip." Astrid read out.

"Okay, Fishlegs, do your thing." Hiccup said.

The blonde boy walked to the wall and read the information out loud. "Okay. Razorwhip. Sharp Class dragon. Long, spiny, barbed tail. Very aggressive. Very dangerous."

"Yeah, we got that. Give us something new." Snotlout said impatiently.

"You want to do this, Snotlout?" Fishlegs challenged.

"Duh! I would…" Snotlout trailed, but then one look at the writing on the wall and realised he couldn't decipher a word. "But I'm just... you know... I don't feel like it right now."

"Ignore him, Fishlegs. Keep reading." Hicca urged.

"Continuing on." Fishlegs said, turning his attention back to the wall. "This symbol indicates that it can use its tail to wrap around a victim and literally squeeze the life out of them. Unless it's in a hurry. Then it just slices you in half."

"Punch me, because I must be dreaming." Tuffnut said in awe. Ruffnut heard that and happily complied. "Ow!"

"Fishlegs, is there anything about this dragon that won't kill us?" Astrid asked.

"How about its eyeballs?" Ruffnut suggested.

Fishlegs read some information about its' eyeballs. "No. Poisonous tears."

"Poisonous! I love it!" Tuffnut exclaimed, getting up.

"Yeah. Poison's fantastic." Hiccup said sarcastically. "Fishlegs, is there anything that might help us locate it?"

"Top speed, mating rituals, oral hygiene, feeding habits…" Fishlegs read off.

"Woah, woah, woah, wait. Go back to that one." Hiccup instructed.

"Oral hygiene?" Fishlegs asked.

"No! Feeding habits. If we can figure out what this thing eats." Hiccup started.

"Then we might figure out where it eats." Hicca finished.

Fishlegs then read the feeding habits. "Mhm. Sea slugs!"

"Where?" Tuffnut asked in a panic. He walked backwards, allowing his twin to trip him from behind just for fun.

"It eats sea slugs." Fishlegs explained.

"Slugs? I hate those slimy monsters. They're just snails without homes. Giant homeless snails!" Tuffnut shuddered.

"We've come across a few islands out there that are just crawling with sea slugs." Hiccup remembered. "Hopefully, our Razorwhip's feeling hungry."

"And hungry for sea slugs, not Vikings." Astrid added.

(Linebreak)

With this new information, the Dragon Riders marked out all the islands filled with sea slugs on the map and set off to check each and every one of them.

"I have a good feeling about this island." Fishlegs said, as they arrived at another island.

"That's what you said about the last five islands!" Snotlout said in annoyance.

"Isn't my fault. I'm an optimist guy." Fishlegs defended. "I'm a "yak bladder half full" kind of guy."

"I don't mean to burst your yak bladder, but does anyone consider what will we're gonna do if we actually find this Razorwhip?" Astrid asked.

"You can marry it." Tuffnut suggested.

"And what if Dagur's riding it?" Astrid asked, unimpressed by the suggestion.

"Well, then Ruffnut can have him." Tuff answered. "It will be complicated, but I will one day learn to love him as my own."

"Um, Tuffnut…" Astrid called, trying to stop his weird 'Dagur-as-a-brother-in-law' rant.

"Like a little babe, a child that I carry in my arms. But he's too heavy." Tuffnut continued, ignoring the Hofferson girl.

Something in the distance caught Hiccups' eyes. "Guys, look! Smoke!"

"A campfire." Raeda realised

"This dragon builds campfires?" Tuffnut asked, much to Astrid's annoyance.

"Give me the 'Thorston Twins serve a purpose' speech again. Quickly?" She pleaded with Hicca and Hiccup.

"Yeah! I've only heard the "Thorston Twins are muttonheads" speech, which is also very good." Tuffnut commented.

"No time for that." Hicca said as they got near the campsite. "Just endure."

Once the group landed at the campsite, they spread out and investigated. They found several crates stacked on one another.

"Could be the loot from the ship." Astrid suggested.

Hiccup then spotted some rocks with gashes on them. "And these gashes look familiar. Alright, gang, let's split up and search the island for our rogue rider and his Razorwhip." He instructed. "He can't be far away."

"Fishlegs, you and Meatlug stay here, signal if they come back." Hicca ordered.

"You got it." Fishlegs nodded. He and Meatlug watched as the others flew off in different directions. The human then picked up some rocks to feed to his dragon. "You know, Meatlug, ordinarily, I would pretend to be upset at being left behind, but to be honest, this time I just feel a lot safer being here with you-" He could finish that sentence as he was suddenly grabbed from above. Meatlug who was off the side eating the rocks her human gave her, didn't notice a thing.

(Linebreak)

The Thorston twins were off in the forest looking for the dragon.

"Alright, sis, you look left and I'll look right." Tuffnut said.

"Wait! My left or your left?" Ruffnut asked.

"We have the same left. We're twins." Her twin answered as if it was so obvious.

"Right." Ruffnut nodded.

After a few seconds of searching, Tuffnut gave up. "Who are we kidding? We're never going to find this thing."

"And all I see are trees!" Ruffnut said.

"All I see is my dream of spending my golden years with a Razorwhip vanishing right before my very eyes." Tuff said sadly. Suddenly the metallic dragon from before shot out of the trees and flew right at them! It bumped into Barf and Belch with a force, knocking the humans and dragon down into the trees. "Help! Oh, ouch, ah!" Tuffnut yelled as he landed into a branch. Dazed, he looked up at his twin who landed on a branch above him. He was so disoriented, he once again saw multiple Ruffnut's in his vision. "An eight? That is way too many Ruffn-"

The branch that was holding Ruffnut suddenly broke, causing the Thorston girl to fall right on to her twin, knocking them both out cold.

(Linebreak)

Astrid and Stormfly were searching on ground near a cave, having spotted dragon tracks of what they could assume belongs to the Razorwhip. "These tracks look pretty fresh. Stay sharp, Stormfly." Astrid instructed, keeping her eyes out.

The blue Nadder did the same until something caught her attention. That something was thrown right into the cave and once Stormfly realised what it was, she ran for in that direction.

"Stormfly?" Astrid called, running after her dragon in the cave. She found her dragon who was happily eating a chicken leg. "Chicken?" She said out loud wondering where on earth did the dead chicken come from. Her eyes widened at a realisation and she turned back to the entrance of the cave. But it was too late as rocks suddenly fell at the entrance, sealing them in. "Oh, no!"

(Linebreak)

Raeda and Sparkfire were near a river, the girl using a spyglass to find the dragon. She then spotted the very same dragon she drew flying right towards them with a cloaked figure on it's back.

"Sparkfire!" She exclaimed, getting her dragons' attention.

Immediately, the purple Nadder flew towards the mysterious dragon, the Henderson girl ready to confront the rogue rider.

As soon as they got close, the metallic dragon suddenly flew upwards, confusing the Nadder and her rider.

But they didn't even have a second to ponder that move when Raeda suddenly noticed a tree being thrown at them by the rogue dragons' tail!

"Look out!" Raeda warned.

Quickly, Sparkfire turned to protect her human from getting hurt, but wasn't able to avoid the tree. She got hit and crash-landed to the ground.

(Linebreak)

Snotlout and Hookfang were searching in the air, when Snotlout suddenly said. "Take us down, Hookfang! Hurry!"

As soon as the Monstrous Nightmare landed, the Jorgenson boy quickly ran to a nearby bush. "I knew we should've gone before we left." A few moments later two trees that were close by the bush were suddenly sliced off, causing Snotlout to raise his head from the bush. "Can't a Viking get some privacy?"

He then looked up in time to see several logs rolling downhill after him!

With a yelp, he ran away from them, while holding his pants up. He reached a nearby cliff. "Hookfang!" He called out, but his dragon was nowhere to be seen. He then fell off the cliff and into a river, where he was swept away by the current. "Oh, no! Hookfang!"

(Linebreak)

Unable to find anything, Hicca joined her brother at a trench.

"Anything?" He asked her.

His twin only shook her head.

Something then caught Toothless' eyes.

"What is it, bud?" Hiccup asked. He, Hicca and Midnight looked to where the male Night Fury was looking at spotted who they were looking for.

"The rogue dragon rider and the Razorwhip." Hicca stated.

"Nice work, Toothless!" Hiccup praised. Realising they've been caught, the metallic dragon flew away.

"Hey they're getting away!" Hicca exclaimed.

"Let's get him, guys!" Hiccup ordered.

And the chase was on between the Night Furies and the Razorwhip as the flew through the narrow valley.

Having gotten a good head start, the Razorwhip was able to put a good distance between it and the other dragons. Then it's rider guided it towards a fallen tree and with understanding, used it's tail to grabbed the tree and fly back in the direction it came from. It then passed by the two Night Furies, giving Hiccup and Hicca the opportunity to get a look at the rider, who was wearing a cloak matching the dragon and a mask over the mouth. The only thing they could note was the green eyes of the dragon rider.

Then Hicca noticed the tree. "Guys, look out!" She warned.

Thinking quickly, the Night Furies blasted the tree, destroying it before it could hit them.

With that disaster averted, the group resumed their chase, not losing sight of their targets.

"Toothless, give me all you've got!" Hiccup commanded, the male Night Fury fired plasma blasts at the Windshear to try to deter it, with no success.

"Now, Midnight!" Hicca commanded. Her dragon fired as well. But instead of aiming for the dragon, she aimed at the cliffs they were flying nearby. Taken by surprised by this, the Razorwhip swerved to avoid the blast, causing the rider to fall off. The dragon was able to recover and rescue the human from hitting the ground. They landed and just before the rogue dragon rider could get back on the dragon, Toothless and Midnight landed as well, and the Haddock twins immediately got off. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Hiccup warned.

The figure turned to face them completely calm. The person then took off the hood and the mask, revealing a very familiar face to the auburn twins.

"I wouldn't, either." The girl their age replied, as her braided raven hair fell on her shoulder.

"Heather?" Hiccup and Hicca said in unison.

(Linebreak)

Having recovered the shock of finding their old friend Heather, the Haddock twins had some many questions to ask her, but Heather wanted to put off the explanations until after they round up the others and bring them back to the campsite.

And the others definitely weren't happy with her and her antics.

"You rolled me into a river!" Snotlout yelled.

"You trapped me in a cave!" Astrid exclaimed.

"You hurled a tree at me!" Raeda exclaimed

"You left me dangling in a tree!" Fishlegs exclaimed.

"And I have to admit, the chicken move brought back some memories." Astrid admitted with a small smile on her face.

"Guys, now I'm sure Heather has a really good reason for doing what she did." Hiccup said. He then turned to her as a prompt for the reason. "Right?"

"Look. I've been living on my own out here for years and I made more than few enemies." Heather explained. "I didn't want you guys to be involved. I needed to send you back to Berk."

"You couldn't have just, I don't know, said that?" Snotlout demanded.

"Would you have listened?" Heather challenged.

"She does have a point. We're pretty stubborn group." Astrid admitted.

"I don't listen to anyone!" Snotlout said to Heather, proving his point by ignoring Astrid. This caused the Hofferson girl to roll her eyes.

"Heather, whatever problems you have, whatever enemies you've made, we can help. You don't have to be out here alone anymore." Hicca said.

"Hicca, please, just let this go." Heather pleaded.

"We have a base not far from here. Why don't you come back with us? Nothing permanent. We'll get you some provisions and catch up. You can see how you like it." Hiccup offered.

As he said this, Ruffnut was dragging her twin, who was still unconscious from the fall earlier on. She set him to rest with his back on a tree. The Razorwhip decided to check on Tuffnut just as he started opening his eyes.

"Whoa. Razorwhip." Tuffnut said, slowly regaining consciousness. "This is the best dream ever. Like I can reach out and touch it." As he said this, he reached out his arm at the dragon and felt the smooth metallic snout. "I can reach out and touch it!" He got up and started petting the dragon, who didn't seemed to mind too much. "Mmm. Cold, scaly." Tuffnut then got on one knee. "I, Tuffnut Thorston, take thee, Razorwhip, whatever your last name is, insert it here, to be my…" That's when he noticed Heather as she walked towards him. "Oh, hey, Heather. And what are you doing in my dream? At my wedding. I didn't put you on the list."

"You're not dreaming, Tuff." Heather said in amusement.

Realisation started to come to Tuffnut. "Oh! Well, in that case, Razorwhip attack! Run!" He yelled as he ran away from the Razorwhip.

This caused Heather to laugh. "I see nothing has changed."

"Yep, same story, different year." Hicca said, chuckling.

"Let's head over to Dragon's Edge." Hiccup insisted.

Heather looked at the auburn twins. "You two are not gonna give up, are you?"

"Not likely." They replied.

Heather smiled, deciding to give in. "Okay, Dragon's Edge it is."

"You're gonna love it!" Hiccup reassured, happy that he and his sister won.

(Linebreak)

Evening came when the Dragon Riders brought Heather and her dragon to the Edge. Once they landed, they brought her to the Clubhouse, where they had so many questions to ask.

"So wait, where did you find her?" Tuffnut asked, referring to the Razorwhip dragon.

"More importantly, can we ride it?" Ruffnut asked, also referring to the same dragon.

"Did you miss me?" Snotlout jumped in, wasting no time at all with flirting. "I think you did. That's why you threw that tree at me. Isn't it? Playing hard to get. Me likey." Heather pushed him back with her finger, which was good enough. Astrid who was behind Snotlout, acted fast and tripped him from behind, causing him to fall to the ground. "Aah!"

The two girls hi-fived at that.

"Never mind him. How did you train a Razorwhip?" Fishlegs asked "It's incredible!"

"Actually, I owe a lot to you, guys." Heather answered.

"To us?" Astrid questioned.

"To me. She meant to me." Snotlout said, getting up. He wasn't at all deterred by the trip up. "I mean, how much more obvious can she be? Ahh, women. I totally understand them."

He got tripped up again, this time by the Razorwhip using her tail. "Okay, great. Check you later!"

"When I found Windshear…" Heather started to explain.

"Awesome name!" Tuffnut interrupted. "I bet you ride like the wind, shearing through it! Get it? I used both of the words in its name to explain why he's called that."

Heather was unimpressed while Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Oh, gods." He said under his breath.

"Tuffnut." Hicca chided, before turning to Heather.. "Please continue Heather."

Heather continued. "Anyway, when I found her, she'd been hurt in a fight with a Typhoomerang. Windshear held her own. Didn't you, girl?" She patted her dragon affectionately. "But she needed to be nursed back to health. Then when she was better, I used the training you guys taught me on Berk. We've become the perfect team. We're unstoppable. I mean, look at her! No one can take us down. And if they try, they'll be sorry for it." Windshear readied her tail for emphasis.

Snotlout didn't seemed too impressed. "Ha! I guess she's pretty cool, but not as cool as this. Hookfang, flame up!" On cue, Hookfang set himself on fire.

Heather just smirked. "That's cute. Windshear, tail slice!"

Swiftly, Windshear moved her tail to slice the floor around Snotlout, causing the boy to flinched and cover his eyes.

When he saw nothing happened, he regained his composure and laughed. "Oh, gah! Ha! What's so great about-" He didn't get to finish that sentence as the area of the floor Windshear sliced suddenly gave away, leaving Snotlout to dangle on a lone plank. "Okay, we'll call it a draw."

The others were very impressed by this. "Whoa. What else can she do?" Fishlegs asked.

"Her breath can burn the flesh off a human from 100 feet away." Heather answered.

"You're gonna get me outta here?" Snotlout called, still hanging from the plank.

The others ignored him as Heather continued. "One single blade of her tail is as deadly as the sharpest battle-ax." Snotlout started to climb back up just as Windshear showed her sharp tail for emphasis for her human. Taken off guard, the Jorgenson boy lost his grip on the floor and fell back on the plank.

Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Fishlegs and Raeda circled Heather and Windshear in awe of the dragons abilities while Hiccup, Hicca and Astrid were at the side. "Great having Heather back. She's so... I don't know, intense, hardcore. I love it!" Astrid said to the Haddock twins.

"Yeah, it's great. She's definitely grown up since the last time we saw her." Hiccup said, though the tone of his voice showing that he felt there was something off.

"Hiccup, it's been three years. We were just kids. We've all grown up." Astrid pointed out.

"Yeah, but she was so sweet, and now she's so... I don't know." Hiccup tried to find the right word.

"Edgy?" Hicca supplied.

"What's wrong with that? I like it." Astrid said.

"Astrid, there's edgy and then there's destroying ships." Hiccup pointed out.

"Speaking of which, we still need to ask her about that." Hicca said, reminding them of their mission.

"Well, do me a favor and wait until after I ask her about her battle-ax." Astrid requested as she watched Heather take out said weapon, which was a double-sided, foldable axe. "I want her to show me how to make one for myself."

The Thorston twins decided to test Heathers fighting skills. Each twin stood opposite sides of Heather, with their swords in hands.

"Let's do this!" Tuffnut exclaimed.

The blondes charged and attacked from both sides. But Heather surprised them by proving to have fighting skills that could match up to Raeda and Astrid. She swiftly dodged their attacks with ease while managing to get a few jabs in. Tuffnut tried to strike, only to hit the folding part of Heathers axe that was made of metal with his sword.

"Come on! Is that all you got?" Heather challenged.

Astrid was very impressed by that. "See? Hardcore." She said to the Haddock twins. She then drew out her own axe and joined in the fight, leaving the twins.

They were then joined by their dragons.

"I don't suppose you want to talk to her, do you, bud?" Hiccup asked Toothless. The Night Fury responded by running toward Heather, tripping Hiccup on the way. Hicca and Midnight chuckled at that. "Yeah, thanks again for everything." Hiccup said on the ground.

(Linebreak)

After catching up with everyone, the teens let Heather and Windshear left for a bit. They showed her the stables, which was where she and Windshear currently, with the former feeding the latter.

"Eat up, girl. You'll need all your strength for what we've got coming." Heather said to her dragon, her mind deep in thought.

"Heather?" Hiccup called, breaking her out of her thoughts. He and Hicca entered the stables. "Uh, we should probably talk."

"Sure, about what?" Heather asked.

"About the ship, the one that you and Windshear destroyed." Hicca prompted.

Heather looked down. "Oh. That ship."

"Heather, what are you doing out there?" Hiccup asked.

"I'm just taking care of business, Hiccup. Nothing either of you need to worry about." Heather explained, hoping they would leave it at that.

"Yeah. But we do worry about it, Heather. If dragons are attacking ships, we worry." Hiccup said.

"And what business involves you needing to attack ships?" Hicca questioned.

"Look, Hiccup, Hicca, a lot has happened in the last few years. We're not kids anymore. Everything's changed." Heather said, suddenly getting defensive.

"This isn't you. It can't be!" Hiccup said.

"It is now. The last time you guys saw me, I-" She suddenly stopped herself. She wanted to tell them why she was like this, but she couldn't, it was too much. "Never mind. I-If you want me to leave…"

"We didn't say that." Hicca reassured. "No, whatever it is you're going through, we can help."

"All of us. There's always another way." Hiccup agreed.

"You're both so sweet. Thank you." Heather said hugging them both. Despite the moment, she had a sad look on her face that neither of the twins could see. "You've always been a great friend to me."

(Linebreak)

Night time came and all the teens were asleep. Heather was given a place in Hicca's medical hut which has a room full of beds. But the ravenette was not asleep. Instead she was out at the stables locking the pens that the dragons were sleeping in.

Her actions caused Stormfly to wake up and gave a squawk.

"Hey, hey. Sssh! It's okay." Heather soothed. At the sight of her old friend, Stormfly relaxed and went back to sleep. Finished locking the cages, Heather got up and looked at the sleeping dragons she locked in. "Sorry, guys. Nothing personal." She whispered to them, even though they couldn't hear her.

She got on Windshear, who was waiting at the entrance and they took off. But what the two of them didn't noticed was two black dragons, with wings wrapped around themselves, dangling upside down in the stables. As soon as the human and dragon left, Toothless and Midnight unwrapped their wings, revealing to be hiding Hiccup and Hicca.

"Okay, guys, let's get some answers." Hiccup said, watching the retreating figures.

(Linebreak)

The Haddock twins followed Heather for a while until she reached a lone ship docked at an island. The Night Furies hid themselves and their humans behind a nearby cliff and they watched as Windshear landed on the ship.

They saw a figure, a man it seems, approach Heather. The two seemed to be having a calm conversation. "Come on, just turn around. Let us see your face." Hiccup muttered, referring to the stranger.

However when the stranger did turn to get a scroll, the twins discovered that he was no stranger at all.

"Johann?" Hicca questioned.

"Okay, this is getting strange." Hiccup said.

Johann hand the scroll to Heather. "Thank you, Johann. It's always a pleasure doing business with you." She said, getting back on Windshear.

"Ah. The feeling is quite mutual, Miss Heather. I can assure you, I enjoy our every transaction." Johann said.

Windshear then took off and flew in the direction where Hicca, Hiccup, Toothless and Midnight were hiding. Luckily the group hid themselves away from sight just in time as the duo flew by. They waited until Windshear vanished from their view then they set their sights on Johann.

"Okay, Johann, let's see what we can get out of you." Hiccup said.

"Definitely a lot more than we need." Hicca pointed out.

The four of the flew to the ship and wasted no time asking Johann about Heather. They sat Johann down with Hiccup sitting across from the table and Hicca standing near her brother while the dragons were on either side of Johann.

"I'm sorry, Master Hiccup and Miss Hicca, but I've been sworn to secrecy." Johann said firmly. "The Chief of the headhunting Asmat tribe from Papua New Guinea couldn't part these lips!"

"Really? How about Stoick the Vast of the Hooligan tribe from Berk?" Hiccup challenged.

"Do you know what trade sanctions are, Johann?" Hicca added.

"Two words that should never be used in the same sentence?" Johann offered, starting to get nervous. The dragons growled threateningly at the older man. "Right then! Where shall I begin?"

"Let's start with why Heather is out attacking the ships all by herself." Hicca prompted.

"I suppose it would have something to do with her entire village, including her own family, being decimated by a rather nasty group of undesirables." Johann explained, causing the twins eyes to widen in shock. "She's made it her personal mission to avenge her island and her family."

"By sinking and looting ships?" Hiccup questioned.

"She's not looting. She's redistributing back to the victims of those horrible crimes." Johann explained. "Every ship that Heather attacks means they'll get back some of what they've lost. Of course, lost loved ones can't never be replaced."

"But why? Why now? Why her?" Hiccup asked.

"Many 'whys', Master Hiccup. None of which I can address at this very moment." Johann said.

Hicca gave an annoyed groan while Hiccup put his head on the table.

"Johann, why do we do this?" Hiccup asked, lifting his head up.

"Sorry?" Johann blinked.

"You know you're gonna tell us. We know you're gonna tell us." Hicca said in exasperation. "So why not save us all the trouble and just…"

The dragons growled once again.

The trader gulped and continued talking. "I suppose you do have a point. Picture, if you will, a brilliant sunny day on the Emerald Isle of Karantha when I received a mysterious correspondence from a little boy. Yet again…"

"Johann!" Hiccup exclaimed, banging his fist on the table. "Where. Is. Heather. Going?"

Toothless and Midnight emphasised his pointed by drawing out their sharp teeth right in front of Johann.

With a gulp, Johann finally got straight to the point. "It's not merely where she's going, Master Hiccup, it's who she's going after."

(Linebreak)

As the Haddock twins listened to Johann's explanation, Heather and Windshear set out on the course that the trader marked out for them.

Heather was on high alert as she scan the ocean below them with the clouds as her camouflage. She then narrowed her eyes when they landed on a particular ship. But it wasn't just any ship, it was her next and final target.

"There!" She pointed the ship out to her dragon. "There it is, Windshear. Remember, girl, we're doing this for my mom and dad. For our whole village." She glared at the ship, wanting to see it burn. "I want my face to be the last thing Dagur ever sees." She was ready to attack the Berserker ship, when she noticed that it wasn't just one ship. "What in the name of Thor?"

And unfortunately for her, the cloud camouflage was rendered useless when Savage suddenly noticed Windshear. "Sir, that dragon's been circling up there for a while." He informed the young chief.

Dagur looked up and saw the dragon. "Hm. Never seen one of those before."

"Nor have I. What should we do?" Savage asked.

A smirk then appeared on Dagur's face. "Well, you know what I always say. When in doubt, take it out."

Nodding, Savage turned to the rest of the soldiers. "Fire!" He ordered.

The Berserker soldiers wasted no time getting their crossbows and firing at the dragon. Luckily for Heather, Windshear was able to dodge them all.

Dagur then turned to the ship next to his. "Wait for it, wait for it…" His eyes kept track of the dragons movements until he found the perfect opportunity. "Now!"

The other ship then fired up a chain that was able to wrap itself onto Windshears' legs, capturing her.

"No!" Heather yelled as her dragon struggled to escape the chain.

"Reel in that spiny menace!" Dagur commanded.

As the ship pulled Windshear closer, the Berserker chief got a better look at the rider and seemed to recognise her. "Well, hello, Heather. Pull harder!" He shouted to his soldier. "She can be useful to us! Very useful."

"We got this, girl!" Heather encouraged her dragon who was still fighting against the chains. That's when she spotted the other Berserker ships circling them from below. "Or not." The other ships then fired chains at them as well and succeeded in trapping Windshear's wings and pinning Heather onto her dragon, making it impossible for her to escape.

When all hope seemed lost for the human and dragon duo, that was when the Haddock twins and the Night Furies arrived, having finally got the explanation and the directions from Johann.

They arrived just in time to see Heather and Windshear being pulled down to the Berserker ships by the chains.

"Oh no!" Hicca exclaimed.

"Heather!" Hiccup shouted.


	11. Have Dragons Will Travel (Part 2)

**A/N: So not only did I keep my procrastination at bay, also got this chapter checked for grammar errors to increase the quality. Hopefully you guys like this. Also I finally saw httyd 3 and I'm just going to say "WOW!". I'm going to have to figure out how to write my story into this, but I think I might have some ideas.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own anything from How to train your dragon**

 **Chapter 11: Have Dragons Will Travel (Part 2)**

Previously…

The Dragon Riders heard news of a rogue dragon rider sinking ships. They investigated and soon found their old friend Heather, who now has her own dragon, a Razorwhip named Windshear. The group soon learns that Heather has changed since the last time they saw her, she's gotten tougher. Still wanting to find out about the ships, Hiccup, Hicca, Midnight and Toothless followed Heather and Windshear, which brought them to Johann. The man reveals that Heathers lost her home when it was under attack. She is taking revenge by attacking the people responsible and distributing their goods to the survivors of her island. The Haddock twins then raced to Heathers newest target, Dagur the Deranged. They reached just in time to find Heather and Windshear trapped in chains, being pulled to the Berserker ships.

"Come on, Windshear, get us out of here." Heather urged as they were being pulled down. The Razorwhip tried her hardest to break free, but it was no use.

On deck, Dagur was still smirking as he watched the duo being pulled closer to the ships. "Oh, Heather, don't fight it.

"Guys, we have to save her!" Quickly assessing the situation, Hicca and Hiccup wasted no time and dove towards them.

That's when Dagur spotted the new arrivals. "Well, look who the dragons flew in! Glad you could join us, brother and sister! It wouldn't feel like a family reunion without you." He then started laughing before turning to his soldiers. "Now, take out those Night Furies!"

Toothless and Midnight were quick to dodge the arrows and the nets while their humans looked for the right moment to strike.

"Blast the chains, Toothless/Midnight!" Hiccup and Hicca both ordered. The dragons did so, but to their surprise, the blast had no effect!

"What?!" Hicca exclaimed.

"Dragon-proof chains?!" Hiccup realized.

"Ha-ha! Nice try, Hiccup, and Hicca! You didn't think I'd make it that easy for you, did you?" Dagur shouted in triumph.

Savage turned to the other soldiers. "Come on, lads, get him!"

"Looks like Dagur's learning from the past. I'll give him that." Hicca said.

Their dragons continued to avoid the arrows, especially one that flew right past Hiccup's face. "Whoa! Okay, that was too close!" He said. They tried to think of another way. "Come on, guys. If we can't blast the chains…"

"Blast the winches!" Hicca finished, her eyes widened.

With this in mind, the group then knew what to do. They flew back to the ships.

Dagur watched as they flew closer. "Come to Dagur…"

"Ready…" Hicca said.

"Fire!" Hiccup exclaimed. Both dragons fired, this time at the winches. And just as the Haddock twins thought it wasn't fire-proof. "Nice shooting, guys!" Both dragons continued to fire at the other winches, setting Heather and Windshear free. Immediately, all three dragons flew higher up, safe from the ships.

Dagur then walked to a nearby soldier. "Ahem. Excuse me, what good are dragon-proof chains WITHOUT DRAGON - PROOF WINCHES?!" With that, he shoved the poor soldier into the hole formed from the plasma blast. The chief then turned to glare at the three dragons above.

Above, Heather returned the glare. Undeterred by their near capture, she was going to get Windshear to fly back down when Hicca and Midnight blocked her.

"Heather you can't take on Dagur and his fleet all by yourself!" The Auburn girl exclaimed.

"I'm not by myself. I have Windshear." Heather argued. "I'm too close. I might not get this shot again!"

"But this is suicide!" Hiccup protested.

"I'm willing to do whatever it takes." The ravenette said firmly.

"But are you willing to sacrifice Windshear, too?" Hicca challenged. That question caused Heather to lose her resolve as she looked down at her dragon.

"Heather, there will be another time. Hicca and I both promise you!" Hiccup reassured, with his twin nodding in agreement.

Reluctantly, Heather flew with the Haddock twins back to the Edge and safe from the Berserkers.

(Linebreak)

The ride back was silent, as none of the humans knew what to say.

Heather finally decided to break the silence. "Blasting the winches, pretty smart."

"Yeah, and a little luck never hurts either," Hicca replied. She then looked at her twin.

Nodding in understanding, Hiccup turned to Heather. "Hicca and I talked to Johann. He told us Dagur wiped out your village... and your family. We're sorry."

"Then you two know why he has to pay," Heather said.

"We do. But you don't have to do this alone." Hicca said.

"I don't know. It seems that I'm destined to be alone. First, when I was a little girl, I get separated from my birth family-"

"Your birth family?" Hiccup couldn't help but interrupt.

"Yes, but I don't remember much," Heather said, her eyes downcast. "It was so long ago. Just a few pictures in my mind. I remember my father's hands. They were rough, like sandstone, but so gentle. And I remember the smell of his wooden shield. I don't think I was supposed to play with it, but he let me anyway. And this." She took something out of her bag and showed it to the twins, it was a horn. "He gave me this horn. I don't know if it means something, but whenever I look at it, I think of him. I just wish I knew who he was."

The twins just gave her looks of sympathy, completely understanding as they had to deal with the loss of their own mother at such an early age.

(Linebreak)

They returned to the Edge and met up with the others, who weren't happy to find their dragons locked up in their stables.

"Look, I'm sorry I locked up your dragons. I just didn't trust that you guys would let me go after Dagur." Heather apologized, once she explained her story.

"Trust does need to be earned with people and dragons," Fishlegs stated.

"Thanks for understanding, Fishlegs." Heather smiled.

Snotlout then shoved the Ingerman boy aside. "I don't really trust these guys either, Heather."

"You know, we can hear you," Astrid said, crossing her arms.

"Jealousy is an ugly quality, Astrid. But clearly, I understand where it comes from." Snotlout said, causing Astrid to roll her eyes.

"From your imagination, Snotlout." Raeda chimed in.

"The point is, we have you back, Heather. You're one of us." Hiccup said, to Heather.

"Yeah, I stocked Windshear's stable with buckets of sea slugs." Fishlegs piped in.

"And I made room for you in my hut!" Snotlout said, trying to be suave.

"And Hiccup and I have made it clear to Snotlout that you're not staying in his hut," Hicca said, mostly to Snotlout with a stern glare to him.

"Even though you were the rogue dragon rider and you sabotaged our dragons and you snuck away in the dark of the night," Tuffnut said to Heather. "Wait a minute, why do we like you again?"

"I'm truly sorry, Tuffnut," Heather said sincerely.

Tuffnut staggers back. "Whoa! That was... sincere. What am I supposed to do with that? I'm a little bit flushed and overwhelmed. Little help here? People?!" He looked to his twin for help.

"Ugh. Help yourself." Ruffnut said, stepping away from her brother.

"And if you need any help with Windshear-" Fishlegs started to offer before Snotlout shoved him aside.

"Why don't I show you around the Edge? I'm basically chief." He boasted.

"Seriously?" Hicca asked, crossing her arms.

Heather got a little uncomfortable when she noticed she was getting cornered. "Thanks, guys, really. I-"

Ruffnut interrupted. "Hey, glad you're back. Your dragon rocks."

Noticing the raven haired girls discomfort, Astrid stepped in. "Let's go have some girl time." She offered, pulling Heather away from the crowd.

"Good idea," Heather said, relieved.

"Is it 'girl time' or 'Astrid and Heather' time," Raeda asked, as she noticed that the two of them didn't stop to wait for her, Hicca and Ruffnut.

"Probably for the better. Astrid has different ideas for girl time." Hicca said. She remembered the different times Astrid wanted to hang out with her, but couldn't really find anything to do because they have completely different interests. In the end, the two would always be settled for a group flight.

'Let's see how this turns out.' Hicca thought to herself as she watches Astrid and Heather walk off.

(Linebreak)

Turns out Heather does like the same things Astrid likes.

For example, axe-throwing.

Astrid held an axe in each hand and threw them at two targets ahead. Both axes reach a bullseye. "Two axes are better than one!" She said to Heather.

Heather was impressed. "True. Unless you have one of these!" With that, she took out her foldable, double-bladed axe and threw it at the target. The axe spun before it landed on one of the targets, close to Astrid axe by a few inches.

Astrid's eyes lit up as she saw the axe. "You really have to show me how you made that!"

Heather went to take out her axe from the target. "Sure, but I prefer close combat to throwing…" She then threw the axe at a nearby tree. "So I can stare my enemy in the eye."

The blonde shield-maiden smirked, as she took one of her axes. "Not a bad tactic. But don't discount- Hyah!" Suddenly she threw the axe in Heather's direction. The axe flew passed the ravenette and struck the tree behind her.

Keeping her composure, Heather looked at the axe stricken tree. "Hmm... The element of surprise. I like that."

"That's one of Hiccup's favorite tactics," Astrid commented.

At the mention of the Haddock boys name, Heather was now curious. "So, you two are a thing, right?"

That got Astrid off-guard. "What? No, just friends!" She said, a little too quickly.

"Come on. I've seen the way you two are together." Heather teased.

"No. Seriously. Friends." The blonde girl said firmly.

"Hmm. He's kind of cute." Heather commented.

"I guess. If you like that unassuming, heroic, dragon rider type." Astrid admitted. If any of the other girls were with them, she wouldn't comment. Hicca and Raeda would have knowing smirks every time they'd see Astrid and Hiccup together and Ruffnut would just blurt it out to Hiccup, making things awkward. To distract herself, she took out the other axe and threw it at another tree.

"Bullseye," Heather said.

Astrid then decided to turn the tables. "Now, you and Snotlout, that's a match made in Valhalla." She joked. "I don't know whether to thank you or feel sorry for you."

Heather didn't seem too bothered though. "I can handle Snotlout. And besides, I'm not into the macho Viking type. I like a little smarts. Like Fishlegs".

That caught Astrid off guard. "Fishlegs?! Seriously?!" She was now wishing the other girls were here to hear this.

"What? I think he's funny and cute." Heather admitted.

"We're talking about Fishlegs, right? The guy with the Gronckle?" Astrid asked, making sure she heard right.

"Okay, all right. Enough boy talk." Heather chuckled. "What else do you do for fun around here?"

Astrid smirked. She had some other ideas.

(Linebreak)

"Keep up!" Astrid called to Heather as they ran towards the cliff. They jumped off the edge and were free-falling to where Stormfly and Windshear were, hovering in position for their humans.

Astrid safely landed on Stormfly's saddle, but unfortunately Heather wasn't as lucky continued to fall towards the rocks.

"Aaaaaaaaaaah!" Heather screamed, covering her eyes. Luckily, Windshear was able to think fast and caught her just in time. "Thanks, Windshear!" Heather praised, getting back on her saddle.

"Want to go two out of three?" Astrid offered.

"No. I want to show you something. If you can keep up." With that Windshear started flying away from the Edge.

"Get 'em, Stormfly!" Astrid commanded and the blue Nadder flew after the two in front.

(Linebreak)

Unaware of the two girls sudden departure, Hiccup, Hicca and their dragons were in the Clubhouse, with the humans going over some notes they got from the Dragon Eye, while the dragons were trying to find a way to occupy themselves.

Toothless found the satchel Heather left behind. Curiosity getting the best of him, he used his snout to inspect its contents. Doing so, caused everything in the bag to fall out.

Hiccup looked over his shoulder and noticed what his dragon was doing. "Hey, would you knock it off, bud? Okay?" He went to pick all the dropped objects to put them back in the bag, hoping Heather doesn't walk back anytime soon.

"Snooping is not going to gain her trust, Toothless. We need to respect her privacy." Hicca said as she helped her brother.

Midnight also joined in scolding her mate, causing him to bow his head in apology.

Hicca then picked up one of the parchments and the title caught her eye."How to perform a Blood Eagle?" Her eyes widened at that. "I can't believe she has something like this! We need to talk to her this!"

"And how are you going to explain how you found it?" Hiccup questioned.

Hicca didn't have an answer.

"We will talk to her about her revenge against Dagur. We just need to think about to bring this and what to say." Hiccup reassured.

They were almost done putting all of Heather's things back in her bag. The only thing left was the horn she showed them earlier. Hiccup picked it up and was about to put it in the bag when something on it caught his attention. "Huh? Wait a minute!"

Without another word, he pushed this under his twin's nose. Hicca was confused for a second before she also noticed the same thing. "That's dad's Chief seal!" She exclaimed.

The twins looked at each other in shock, thinking of the implication behind their new revelation.

(Linebreak)

Meanwhile, Heather and Astrid arrived at their destination, although Astrid still didn't know why they were here.

"What are we doing back at your campsite? You forget something?" She asked.

"Nope." Was all Heather said, though she still seemed to be in search for something.

Astrid felt a little uneasy. "Stay put, Stormfly. Keep your ears up." The blue Nadder nodded and got her spiked tail ready just in case.

"Oh... It must be here." Heather muttered to herself.

"Are you going to clue me in on what we're doing here? Hello?" Astrid asked.

"I'm looking for something," Heather said vaguely.

Astrid was about to ask again when she suddenly heard sounds of rustling in a bush behind her. "Looking for something like-" Immediately, she took out her axe and used it to pull out the person hiding in the bush, Without looking to see who it was, pinned the figure on the ground with the axe to their throat. That's when she noticed her captive. "Trader Johann?"

"Miss Astrid, so nice to see you again," Johann said, his voice shaking. He was trying to recover from his surprise attack. "Would you mind, please, lowering you axe so my frightened soul might be granted safe passage back to my body?"

Astrid rolled her eyes but gave him space to get up.

"Johann! Thank Thor." Heather said, relieved.

"Oh. Miss Heather! I'm overjoyed you're not dead. When the Terrible Terror returned with the message I sent, I was sick with worry. Then, when I arrived here and saw your campsite abandoned, I feared the worst!" Johann explained.

"Alright, someone needs to tell me what's going on," Astrid demanded, frustrated of being out of the loop.

"You see, Miss Astrid." Johann said taking out a scroll. "if you need exotic spices from a foreign land, or one-of-a-kind cured leathers, or incredibly difficult to obtain information detailing the exact whereabouts of a certain dastardly Berserker, Trader Johann is your man." He opened the scroll to reveal a marked out map.

"Dagur!" Astrid realized.

"And if you need a warrior to take off that dastardly Berserker…" Heather continued. She swiftly took out and unfolded her axe, ready to strike[Does some fancy moves with her axe]... I'm your girl!

"So he's got the info and you've got the axe. Now what?" The Hofferson girl asked.

"Dagur is set to purchase a fleet of new ships from a group of salty undesirables in the Sea of Despair. But be wary. These new ships for his armada are outfitted with powerful anti-dragon winches and catapults. After the deal is done, I won't be able to find him again." The trader explained to the two girls. "Dagur will be back in the wind. Adrift, like a leaf in a stream…"

"Ugh," Astrid muttered at that analogy.

"And I've used my last grapevine, so I won't be able to offer my invaluable, yet expensive information." Johann finished.

"Got it. Thanks, Johann. Come on, Astrid." The ravenette said, going to her dragon.

"You're not coming?" Astrid asked the older man.

"What part of this implies 'Rushing into battle on a flying lizard'?" He replied rhetorically.

(Linebreak)

The Haddock twins didn't say much as they flew back all the way to Berk. There were so many questions forming in their minds since their discovery. And the only one who has the answer is the owner of the chief symbol: their father.

Gobber spotted the two teens as they landed nearby. "Hicca! Hiccup! From my lips to Odin's ears. I was just saying I could use you two and your dragons help with a pesky flock of wild Nadders that have been driving me batty!" The group heard multiple loud screeches in the distance. "Yeah, you heard me, you lousy…" Gobber yelled, waving his hook hand.

But the twins stood firm in their mission. "No time, Gobber," Hicca said.

"We need to see our dad. It's urgent." Hiccup explained.

"Oh." The blonde man said, disappointed that he won't get any help with his predicament. "In that case, he's in the Great Hall. But it's Berk's gripe day, so there might be a bit of a wait." Without wasting time, the twins made their way to the Great Hall followed by their dragons. The Nadders continued to screech, making Gobber winced. "Uh-huh. Stinky little buggers."

There was a long line of villagers lined up at the throne where Stoick was sitting listening to each villagers problems one by one. It was Sven's turn.

"Stoick, them wees ones of mine are making me crazy! They run all over the house, breaking and wrecking everything. They won't sit still for a minute. I'm exhausted." He groaned.

But the chief just rubbed his temples, having heard this dilemma before. "Ugh. That's because they're sheep, Sven. And they should be kept outside!"

"Aw, but they do get so lonely." Sven objected.

"Dad," Hicca called, as she and her brother got in front of the line.

Stoick was surprised to see his children arriving unannounced. "Hicca! Hiccup!" By the looks on their faces, they weren't here for a casual visit.

Hiccup got straight to the point. "We really need to talk." He showed his father the horn they brought with them, making sure the chief seal was visible.

Stoick was deep in thought as he looked at the horn. "Hmm."

(Linebreak)

Heather and Astrid returned to the Edge with the map and gathered the rest of the Dragon Riders so that Heather can explain her plan. While everyone was surprised to find no signs of the Haddock twins or their Night Furies, Heather didn't let that deter her. "We gotta go now. Dagur won't be out in the open for long." She urged once she finished explaining her plan.

"Wait a minute. You want us to go into battle with Dagur and the Berserkers without Hiccup, Hicca, Midnight and Toothless?" Fishlegs asked, not liking that idea at all.

"That's not a good idea. We should wait for them." Raeda said. Unbeknownst to everyone else, the Haddock twins actually told Raeda of their discovery before they left. They made her promise not to say anything to anyone else until they find out the truth and asked her to cover for them.

"Guys, I wish the four of them were here, trust me. But they're not." Heather stated, matter-of-factly. "And we can't wait. Dagur's ships are rigged with dragon-proof chains and grappling hooks. And the ships he's buying are even more powerful. But with all of us attacking at once, Dagur won't know what hit him."

"I have to say any aerial assault of this magnitude would be foolish without Toothless and Midnight. They are the two most powerful dragons in our arsenal." Meatlug growled, hurt by her rider stating that. "But you're still my favorite, girl." He quickly comforted.

"Well, it's not like we need those four." Snotlout tried to brag but stopped when he noticed Astrid and Raeda glaring at him. "But it's nice to know we have Night Furies when things get hairy." He quickly said.

Heather then turned to Astrid for back-up. "You heard Johann, Astrid. This is our last chance. Tell them."

Surprisingly, Astrid hesitated with her response. "Well... Look, Heather-"

"You too?" Heather asked in disbelief. Feeling betrayed, she started walking away from the group. "Just forget it. All that stuff about trust and having my back, I guess that was just talking."

"Oh, man! Awkward." Snotlout said in a singsong voice. Raeda slapped him on the back of his head for that.

(Linebreak)

"Where did you get this?" Stoick asked his children, holding the horn.

"It's Heather's." Hiccup answered.

"Hmm."

"She's the girl that stole Stormfly a few years back." Hiccup explained.

Stoick nodded in understanding as he remembered the raven-haired girl. "Yes. Heather."

"Dad, that horn has your chief seal carved into it." Hiccup stated.

"It does." His father agreed.

"Is there something you need to tell us?" Hicca pressed, her and her brother crossing their arms.

"When a Chief has a child, Hiccup, that child receives many gifts from all over." Stoick started to explain. "Now when you two were born, I asked Gobber to make two smallest axes he'd ever imagined. With a handle tiny enough for a baby to grasp. I wanted you two to start training the moment you opened your eyes. I thought your mother was going to feed me to the boars." He chuckled.

The twin's eyes lit up at that memory.

"I remember that axe." Hiccup said.

"Me too." Hicca agreed.

"Yeah, Hiccup, you used yours as a paperweight. And Hicca, you used yours to pin paper on the wall."

The twins sheepishly rubbed their heads before Hiccup continue to speak. "About the horn, Dad, Heather told us her father gave it to her. But it has your seal on it."

"Hmm."

"Dad, is Heather our sister?" Hicca finally asked.

Stoick looked at the horn before looking at his children. He started to explain where the horn came from.

(Linebreak)

Heather and Windshear were at the stables, with Heather finishing preparing everything she needed to attack the Berserkers. "Looks like it just you and me, Windshear... as usual." Heather sighed. Even though it was just her and Windshear, she was determined to follow through her revenge, for her home, for her family.

"Hey. If we're gonna do this, it has to be a capture mission, not a kill mission." Astrid suddenly said as she and the other teens stood at the entrance of the stable. "Agreed?"

Taken by surprise, Heather smiled at the support from her friends. "Agreed. We'll sink Dagur's armada, and drag him back to Outcast Island. Let him rot there."

"Okay. Then we're with you." Astrid said.

"You can thank me. I was the one who rallied these guys." Snotlout stepped in.

"Well, that's not really my recollection," Fishlegs said.

"Quiet, Fishlegs!" Snotlout hissed.

"As soon as she left, your lips started to do that cute little quiver thing." He mocked, quiver his lips for emphasis.

"You quiet! That's a tic! It's a tic when I'm about to fight." Snotlout defended.

"Really? So how come we've never seen that 'tic' before?" Raeda challenged.

"...Shut up, Rae." The Jorgenson boy grumbled.

Heather couldn't help but chuckle at that, before turning to Astrid. "So, what changed your mind?"

"Hiccup and Hicca," Astrid answered. "They would never want you to face Dagur alone again. And neither do I."

"Well, I know right where Dagur is," Heather said, holding the map Johann gave her.

"Good. Then you won't need this." Astrid said, taking the map from Heather. She unrolled it and used her dagger to pin it to the wall outside the stable. "Now, Hiccup and Hicca will be able to find us." She turned back to Heather. "So what's your plan?"

"Hit him when he least expects it." The green-eyed girl said with determination.

(Linebreak)

Out at sea, far away from the Edge, Dagur watched as his armada prepared for the arrival of the new ships.

"Ah. It's a good day to strengthen my armada. Then again, it's always a good day to strengthen my armada." He started laughing at that. Against his better judgment, Savage decided to join in the laughter, causing his chief to stop laughing. "What are you laughing at?" Dagur demanded, his eyes narrowing.

Savage coughed a few times before trying to regain his composure. "The gold is ready for the exchange, sir. Should we move it to the deck?"

"No, leave it down below," Dagur ordered.

"But, sir, when they arrive with the ships, they'll be expecting our gold." Savage pointed out.

"Yes! And instead of our gold, we'll give them our steel." His chief said, holding up his axe.

Savage grinned maliciously at that.

(Linebreak)

The Haddock twins and their Night Furies returned to the Edge, their thoughts filled with their father's revelation.

"Any ideas on how we are going to tell this to Heather?" Hicca asked her twin. "We may not know her that well, but this is definitely going to be the shock of her life.

"We just have to be clear and honest with her And be there for her." Hiccup said. "That's all we can do."

They swept around the Edge to look for the green-eyed girl but were surprised to find none. In fact, they didn't see any of their friends around.

Confused, they flew to the stables to check for the dragons, only to find it empty. "Where did everyone go?" Hiccup wondered as he and Toothless walked out of the stables.

"Hiccup!" Hicca called, getting her brothers attention. He turned to find her holding a parchment that was pinned to a wall with what appears to be a marked map. She showed him what the note said.

"I'm sorry guys. Heather was ready to go without us. Please hurry!"

-Raeda

The twins looked up at the marked location on the map. "Oh no," Hiccup muttered.

(Linebreak)

The rest of the Dragon Riders, plus Heather reached the Berserker ships. "There he is." Heather spotted, her target locked in.

"Alright, let me guess. You want to attack like the rogue dragon rider that you are. A full frontal assault!" Tuffnut exclaimed.

"No," Heather answered. She then turned to Astrid and smirked. "Element of surprise?"

Astrid smirked back in understanding.

"Dragons! Incoming!" One of the Berserker soldiers shouted.

Dagur instantly spotted four very familiar dragons firing at their ships. "Prepare the grappling hooks! Ready the chains!" He grinned as he watched the four dragons. "It's hunting season."

All the Berserker ships started firing at the dragons. Sparkfire, Hookfang, Meatlug and Barf and Belch made sure to stay high enough, keeping themselves and their riders safe from the oncoming arrows.

"Ah. Too high to hit anything!" Snotlout complained as he tried to get Hookfang to fire at the ships.

"That's the point. We're not supposed to hit anything." Raeda said while firing back some of her arrows.

"We're supposed to divert Dagur's attention and stay high enough to avoid his weaponry," Fishlegs added.

"We got to get lower!" The shorter man objected. "I can't-" He stopped when one of the arrows flew to close to his face. "I said higher! Hookfang, higher!"

Unbeknownst to Dagur, Windshear and Stormfly stealthily made their way to the ships without getting detected. Heather and Astrid quietly jumped on to the ship and behind a wall of barrels. They kept themselves hidden just as one of the Berserker soldiers walked towards the deck.

"What are they doing up there?" Dagur asked out loud, trying to figure out the Dragon Riders strategy.

Behind him, Astrid jumped in front of another Berserker soldier who was holding a barrel. The soldier was caught off guard, causing him to drop the barrel.

"Nice surprise face." Astrid mocked. Heather came from behind and struck him in the head, knocking him out cold. The two girls did a silent hi-five in triumph. "Yes."

Getting a strange feeling, Dagur looked away from the dragons in the air and to the back of his ship. Luckily the two girls were able to move themselves and the unconscious soldier away from sight just in time. That didn't stop Dagur from being suspicious though. "What the… What is going on?"

He was about to walk over to investigate when Meatlug's lava blast suddenly stops him in his path. "Oh, come on, already!" He shouted, looking back up at the dragons. He grabbed one of the chains, getting ready to throw it at Meatlug, but the chain got pulled back. Caught off guard. Dagur fell face-first on the floor and in a second found his legs tied together and his hands tied behind his back. "What are you doing?" He demanded, thinking it was his soldiers. He was turned on his back to face the people actually responsible. "You two?"

"Surprise, Dagur." Heather greeted coldly.

"Two axes are better than one," Astrid said, dropping the chain.

"And twelve ships trumps two axes." Dagur retorted. He looked up, only to find Stormfly and Windshear snarling at him. "I should've seen that coming."

"Windshear, finish it!" Heather ordered. The Razorwhip raised her tail, her spikes protruding.

This took Astrid by surprise. This was not part of the plan. "No, Heather, don't! You promised us a capture mission."

Heather just shrugged the blonde girl off. "Sorry, Astrid. I changed my mind. Dagur didn't 'capture' my village. So this ends here."

"If you kill me, Heather, you'll never know-" Dagur tried to say before Heather gagged him.

"Save it for the gods." She said with a glare. "Windshear!" Just as the Razorwhip raised her tail, two voices suddenly called out.

"STOP!" The group looked up and saw Hiccup and Hicca flying in with Toothless and Midnight. The two humans jumped off, grabbed the ropes on the ship and landed in front of Dagur, blocking him from Windshear.

"Heather, stop." Hiccup said.

"Don't do it." Hicca pleaded.

"Move, you two." The raven-haired girl demanded.

"You don't understand." Hiccup said.

"You promised me there would be another time, and this is it!" Heather insisted.

Hicca took the horn out of her satchel. "Look. You told us your father gave you this."

That made Heather stop, not expecting that. "He did, but what are you doing?"

"This is our father's, Chief Seal." Hiccup said, pointing to the symbol.

Heathers' eyes widened at the implications. "Stoick's steal is carved in my horn? What are you two saying?"

"We're saying years ago, Stoick gave this horn to the Chief of the Berserker tribe, Oswald the Agreeable, as a gift for his newborn daughter," Hicca explained.

"You were that newborn, Heather." Hiccup continued. "Oswald the Agreeable is your father. And he is also Dagur's father."

Heather took a step back. "No."

"Heather, Dagur is your brother. You can't kill him." Hiccup said with some reluctance.

Heather turned to Astrid. "Astrid."

Astrid didn't know what to say. She was just as shocked. "I-" But it didn't seem like she had to think of something as Dagur's Armada caught her attention. "It's the rest of Dagur's ships. Look out!"

"Heather, we have to go." Hicca urged.

. "I have to admit, you never disappoint, brother and sister," Dagur said, getting up. With the distraction of the shocking news, he was able to use a nearby spike to cut his ropes "Or maybe you're actually my uncle and aunt. Who knows in this crazy world?" He laughed at that.

The twins didn't bother answering to that as they went to their dragons, who landed on the ship. Astrid followed suit. "Heather, come on," Hiccup called.

Heather remained frozen in shock.

"Heather, I'm the only family you've got left. Join me, sister!" Dagur offered. "Don't fight destiny. I know you feel the Berserker blood flowing through your veins."

That snapped Heather out of her trance and she immediately got on Windshear and flew off without looking back.

"What are you doing? Come back, sis! 'Heather the Unhinged' has a nice ring to it, no? You'll be back and I will welcome you with open arms! We'll have to wait on that reunion. Pity!" Dagur called out after her. He was so distracted in doing so that he didn't see Toothless and Midnight flying right towards him. "What?" It was too late to move aside as he got knocked back on the floor. "I really should've seen that one coming, too."

The four teens avoided the attacks from the rest of the Armada and rejoined with the others. "All right, gang, back to the Edge!" The older Haddock ordered.

"Under the circumstances, I wholeheartedly agree with that plan," Fishlegs said, relief evident in his voice.

(Linebreak)

Once they got back to the Edge, Raeda, Fishlegs, Snotlout, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut were told about the new discovery and they were stunned.

Heather was not going to stay to take part in any of the discussion.

Astrid found her at the stables packing some supplies in Windshear's saddle. "Guess you're leaving. Again. I thought you were tired of being alone."

"I am." The other girl admitted.

"Then don't be. It's safer here. You have support. And I'm here." The blonde girl said.

"I know. I just have a lot I need to figure out." Heather said. "Thanks, Astrid. It was nice having a friend again." The two girls hugged before Heather got on Windshear. "Let's go girl."

The Haddock twins walked towards Astrid as Windshear and Heather slowly disappeared from sight. "Hey, I know you guys got pretty close. I'm sorry you're losing a friend." Hiccup comforted.

Astrid smiled at him. "But I still have you."

It was a sweet moment between the two until Astrid realized Hicca was still there. "Both of you! I still have both of you!" She corrected quickly, making Hiccup realize that his twin was still there as well.

Hicca just smirked and walked away.

Astrid looked at her retreating form in confusion. "That's new."

"Maybe she found a new way to make fun of us." Hiccup suggested.


End file.
